She's Bonnie, I'm Clyde
by tempest-races
Summary: Complete. I have changed the movie very slightly to include my own charater. She meets Vince at a race and they become friends. Will they become more, will Vince get over Mia? What secrets is the girl hiding? Read and find out. Oh and review too. :
1. First Race Night

Authors note: This is my newest fic, the second one ever. So who will it be about do you think? Read and tell me what you think.I'll give you a hint, Letty is in this one. I need reviews to keep me motivated people so review, it only takes a second and I take anon reviews.Thanks and enjoy.  
  
She's Bonnie, I'm Clyde.  
  
Chapter One - First Race Night.  
  
"I just don't want to go Manda and that's final."  
  
"But it'll be fun Nyssa; you'll meet lots of great people. Lots of hot guys will be there and nice cars too."  
  
"But Manda I don't know anyone even your friends you go to these things with."  
  
"You'll meet people there."  
  
Nyssa had no idea why she bothered fighting her cousin on this one. Manda always won. She would end up going with her and having a horrible time. She was just not outgoing enough to fit in at this sort of thing. Manda had been trying to get her to go to a race night at this old warehouse for months. But all the girls wore next to nothing and most were there to try to pick up the winners. They wanted to be prizes for winning racers. The idea of being like a trophy made Nyssa sick. It was so not her style. She loved cars and racing but not the subculture of street racing.  
  
"But Manda, I won't fit in. You know this."  
  
"Nyssa, you will fit in if you try."  
  
"I have nothing to wear Manda."  
  
"You'll borrow something of mine."  
  
"Fine. Let's get ready." Nyssa could see she had not a chance in hell of getting her cousin to give up. Plus if she refused she would be stuck at home alone all night because Manda would go without her.  
  
Manda dressed her cousin in tight leather pants in a kind of silver colour that set of Nyssa's tan. Then she put her in a white bra with a sheer electric blue tank over it. Nyssa had her own boots. They had a big chunky heal and sole, and buckles the whole way up to her knee from her ankle. Nyssa's style ran more to the funky then the extreme. Like she would wear the pants no problem but she would rather have a tank top or wife-beater then this shear thing pretending to be a top Manda made her wear.  
  
Manda made her leave her hair down. It was over half way down her back and curly. The color she was told was black cherry. It was natural not dyed however. It was basically dark red. Both girls were tallish at five foot seven. They had the same type figure but Manda was naturally slim while Nyssa was not, she had to work at it and as such was quite muscular. Then Manda made her wear makeup. Nyssa was not even allowed to put it on herself. Manda did it for her. When Manda was done Nyssa hardly knew herself in the mirror. The black eyeliner made her violet eyes look huge. Her eyes were such a strange color. She thought they were her best feature. They were a deep purple. Her skin was darker then Manda's but it was not all tan. She had some Latin background on her side of the family. She was the exact opposite from her cousin in coloring for sure.  
  
Manda was blonde; blue eyed, and tanned dark. It suited her. She was from the valley after all. She wore similar clothes. They headed down the stairs to wait for Manda's friend Evan to come get them. Manda was crushing on this guy but he was not very nice in Nyssa's book and he treated her cousin like crap.  
  
Evan pulled up and honked out front. They ran out and got into the car with Evan. He told them they looked hot and were going to make some racer very happy. Nyssa barely managed to bite her tongue and not tell him off. She was not going to act like eye candy. She would go and try to have a good time seeing all these cars but she was not going to fuck some guy just because he won a car race. She would rather have taken her own car but Manda said no. She said that it was better to just go because if cops came Evan had a better chance of getting away then they would. She was right. Nyssa had no idea how to race. She had a race car her brother had left her when he died. He had been a cop and was killed in the line of duty. He had let her help him build the car and she loved every second. So in his will her brother had left the car to her, saying he knew she would take good care of it.  
  
She brought herself back to the present. They had arrived. There were people everywhere. The sights were overwhelming. Girls were flirting everywhere, wearing even less then Nyssa. Nyssa was wearing a lot compared to a lot of the girls around. There was a tall, muscular guy with a shaved head holding court in the middle of the prettiest girls till some other pretty, dark girl scared them all off with one of the best lines Nyssa had ever heard.  
  
"I smell *sniff* *sniff* skanks. Why don't you girls pack it in before I leave tread marks on your faces?" This girl was dressed similar to Nyssa. Maybe the way she was dressed was not skanky for the racing world. The thought made her smile.  
  
The guy was not impressed and the look he gave the girl would have made Nyssa run the other way. But all he said was  
  
"Letty, I was just talkin."  
  
This Letty girl obviously did not believe him but it seemed like it must be old hat to the guy because he just moved on and organized the first race. Two guys paid their money and they were about to race when a gorgeous blonde guy put up the slip to his car. Nyssa was being filled in by Manda. Manda told her they guy was Dominic Torreto and Letty, the girl, had every reason to chase the skanks off cause Dom had likely already slept with half of them. Even Manda did not know the blonde dude.  
  
The four men raced and Dominic Torreto won. He always won Manda told her. The other guy who lost his car took the ribbing from the crowd good humouredly. Then a cute guy in a yellow skyline screamed Cops, yo we got cops. Everyone ran for their cars. She was running toward Evan's car when she saw it take off, Manda in the front seat. Those asses took off without her. Now what? She wondered what would happen if the cops picked her up. They would either keep her overnight or take her home to her step dad, who would flip out. She knew what would happen if she got taken home to him dressed like this. Since it was a weekday night he was likely drinking off the stress of work and she would become a moving target. She was either going to have to kick the crap out of the guy or let him try to hit her. She was to the point of not caring in a way, if that happened. She figured the shit would hit the fan sooner or later anyway. So who really cared if the cops brought her home and that happened tonight or some other night? 


	2. Meet the Team

Chapter 2 Meet the Team.  
  
The Torreto team all ran for their cars and took off. As Vince was speeding away he saw some red headed chick walking away from the alley. Walking! He squealed to a stop and yelled at her,  
  
"Hey baby, you should run to your car and take off. This is not going to be pretty when the cops get here. It sure ain't no time to walk."  
  
"I have no car to run to, my ride took off on me. And I am not your baby."  
  
"This is not the time to argue that, get in the car." What made Vince care if she got caught he had no idea. He told himself it was just looking out for another racer, they were like a big group of friends when it came to being united against the cops.  
  
Nyssa heard the sirens coming and while she had thought she was ready to be caught she was scared now so she decided to take the out this person offered her. She knew it was crazy to get in a car with a stranger but was it better then getting picked up by the cops right? She decided to take her chance on this guy with the shaggy hair and scruffy beard. She jumped in his Nissan and they took off. They outran the cops easily. He asked her where she wanted him to drop her off. She did not answer right away and he looked over at her.  
  
"Forget where you live or you just don't want me to know?" Vince knew he looked like a thug, he wouldn't be surprised if she was wondering what the hell she had been thinking getting in his car and sure as hell didn't want him to know where her house was.  
  
"Nothing like that I just don't know where to tell you. I was staying with my cousin but she took off and left me there to get picked up by the cops. I mean one second she is right there telling me about people then that guy in the skyline says cops and she abandons me there. She threw me to the wolves and she knew that was my first race night ever. So I don't want to go there. But if I go home to my stepfather I am going to catch real hell."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Cause I was supposed stay with Manda for the night and he will want to know why I am not with her. We were not supposed to go out of her house. And then he will want to know where the clothes came from. And why I am wearing them. And if he should find out I went to a street race, and ran from the cops with a strange guy. And if he has been drinking I don't want to think about what will happen. Maybe you could take me to the garage where I have my car stashed. Then I could stay in my garage with my car then pretend I just got home in the morning."  
  
"Well you could come hang with us at our party for awhile if you don't know what you want to do. I can take you somewhere later if you decide."  
  
"Ok, why not. Let Manda worry about me for awhile. Serves her right."  
  
"Is this Manda Williams?"  
  
"The one and only."  
  
"If you want revenge on your cousin coming with me is the best thing to do."  
  
"Why is that?"  
  
"Cause when you tell her you partied at Dom Torreto's she is going to be flippin. She has never been invited to our place but she wants to get on Dom worse then anything."  
  
"You run with that Torreto guy she showed me?"  
  
"Since third grade. Here we are. This is our place."  
  
There were cars everywhere. All imports all slammed. She wished in that moment she knew what she was doing enough to take her car and race it. The adrenalin, the atmosphere, the chance to finally not be a good girl for a change. But who was she kidding. She had only ever driven to school and stuff, and even then she knew that the car had no business being on the street. It was designed to drive on the other side of the road. Her brother had raced on the NIRA circuit with it, not the streets. Then she wondered what the hell she was doing going to a strange house with a strange guy. Oh well, she guessed it was just one of those stupid things you were supposed to do when you were young. She just hoped she lived to learn from it.  
  
She and Vince climbed out of his car and headed for the house. She stopped him just before they climbed the porch.  
  
"Um, hey buddy, what's your name? You're the only person I'm likely to know in here so I'd kinda like to be able to tell people who brought me more so then you know that guy, you know, the tall one with like the hair." She did her best valley girl impression.  
  
"Good point. I'm Vince. If anyone asks who brought you say Vince. Or better yet just don't stray too far from me ok?"  
  
"Um, ok. Is this a mean crowd?"  
  
"No, we just don't take well to strangers. But if your with me no one will say anything to you so don't worry 'bout it, Kay?"  
  
"Sure thing Vince."  
  
"Ok, now what's your name? Being introduced as Manda Williams' cousin will not go over well in here. Does everyone around races know you're her cousin?"  
  
"My name's Nyssa and no one should know because I have never been around street racing."  
  
"Ok, good. But you say that like you have been around other kinds of racing."  
  
"Well I have been. My brother raced on the NIRA circuit."  
  
"Oh ok. Let's head in Nyssa."  
  
Nyssa was assaulted by the noise right in the door. The music was a throbbing base line and trance highs. There were no words to it but it made her want to grab Vince and just move. She resisted the impulse and followed Vince into the kitchen. He grabbed a corona and asked if she wanted one. She was only 19 and had never drunk before. She was the stereotypical good girl and had not planned on drinking till she turned 21 but she figured she may as well go all the way tonight and she took the beer. It was good. Cold and crisp and she was thirsty. What was one beer likely to do? It was not like she was doing body shots of tequila or anything.  
  
They headed out to the living room. Vince asked Skyline guy, who was also there, and named Leon, where Dom was. Seems he had never returned. Leon said they didn't know where he was but if he was not back in another 5 minutes someone had to go find him. Everyone groaned, no one wanted to leave the house after escaping the cops, and they all seemed scared of what Dom would do to them for not going sooner. Nyssa knew how it felt to be abandoned so she figured they should go looking now. She didn't know any of these people so she kept that to herself.  
  
Vince sat down and grabbed his guitar and asked her if she wanted to hear any song in particular. Nyssa told him no but she would love to hear him play. She sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of him. Vince was an awesome guitar player. If the music and Vince playing had not been so loud they would have heard the car pull up to the front of the house. 


	3. Wanna Go For a Drive?

"Yo, Spilner, want a beer?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
Dom walked into the house. None of the people downstairs had heard Dom outside, just his sister upstairs who was frantically changing her clothes. Vince took one look at the look on Dom's face and told Nyssa to get over to the side of him, out of the way. She moved, wondering if Dom had a temper to match his looks. Dom walked over to Leon who said,  
  
"Yo Dom, we was just about to go looking for you Brotha!"  
  
In answer Dom smacked the beer out of his hand and nearly clocked the blonde girl in Leon's lap in the head with it. He then walked over to Vince and asked,  
  
"Where were you?"  
  
"Yo Dom there were mass cops man, that shit was orchestrated, they came in from every direction."  
  
"This your beer?" Dom asked Vince, shooting Nyssa a dirty look.  
  
"Ya, that's my beer!"  
  
Dom took the beer and walked away. He walked by Jesse who was making out with some girl.  
  
"Yo Einstein, take it upstairs, you can't detail a car with cover on." Dom shouted then muttered, "He can't even get that right."  
  
Just then the blonde guy walked in. She could feel the anger coming off Vince and wondered why Vince hated the blonde dude so much.  
  
"Yo Dom, why'd you bring the buster here?" Vince shouted.  
  
"Cause the buster kept me out of handcuffs. He didn't just run back to the fort. The buster brought me back."  
  
Dom turned to the blonde guy. "You can have any brew you want, long as it's a Corona." Blondie picked a beer. "Enjoy that, it's Vince's"  
  
The blonde guy went off to the bathroom and Vince shouted at Dom.  
  
"He's got no call being up in here, you don't know that fool for shit."  
  
"Vince, there was a time when I didn't know you!"  
  
"That was in the third grade!"  
  
Dom made some wise crack about what girls were there and Letty took him off upstairs. Nyssa wondered why Dom was always being mean to Letty. Flirting with skanks, asking about other girls. Blondie came back down and Nyssa decided she had to find out his real name. Vince and his friends went for him as soon as he came back, making wise cracks at him. Nyssa didn't think she could do anything about it, she imagined that Blondie was about to have his face rearranged. Just then some other girl came around from the dining room and pushed Vince away. This other girl quickly moved Blondie off into the kitchen, leaving Vince and his friends staring after them. Vince seemed to remember Nyssa at that point. He came back over to her then.  
  
"Say, wanna go for a drive Nyssa? I need to get out of the house for awhile."  
  
"Sure Vince, I could go for a drive."  
  
They climbed into the car and took off. Vince squealed out of the driveway and off down the street, smoking the tires and redlining first.  
  
"So what's with you and Blondie?" Nyssa asked, figuring he had to talk about it or it would eat him to death. She felt drawn to Vince. Why did she care why he didn't like the beautiful blonde guy? It could be anything. He slammed the car into third at 6300 rpm. One reason why he might be envious hit her.  
  
Vince did want to talk about it. Nyssa was an impartial third party after all. "I just don't like him. He's trying to pick up Mia. Brian Earl Spilner. I think he's a serial killer. And I don't even think he wants Mia for real. He just wants to get to Dom and he's using her."  
  
"Oh, he wants Mia for real. Trust me on this one. And she wants him too. But that is a serial killer name."  
  
Vince gave her a dirty look and sped up. She wondered how fast they were going as he slammed the car into 4th. From what she knew of driving they had to be going around 80 mph.  
  
"So you want Mia too?"  
  
"Since she was 17 and that was about 5 years ago."  
  
"I see. Well Vince, I don't want to make you mad at me but I hate to break it to you, she doesn't like you that way. I think she has it bad for Brian, our serial killer."  
  
"I can see that but I spent 5 years chasing her and he comes around the diner 3 weeks ago and he gets her like that?"  
  
"He doesn't have her yet but he will. It is obvious she doesn't feel romantically about you though Vince. Take it from me and move on man. It is not worth wasting your life waiting for her to find feelings for you she just doesn't have. Better to accept that now then have her turn to you in a moment of weakness and then have both of you be miserable and unhappy for a long time while one of you tries to screw up the courage to admit you messed up and end it." Nyssa spoke from experience.  
  
Vince was quiet for a couple minutes then he told her,  
  
"I know it is stupid to want a girl that doesn't want me. She was just never with anyone seriously before and I guess I thought she would come around to me. I see now that she just doesn't like me that way. And to tell the truth I have kinda moved beyond her too. But I still don't trust the guy. He seems strange. I think he's a cop."  
  
"Is that a bad thing?" Nyssa wondered what they would say if they knew her brother had been a cop.  
  
"Hell ya, it's a bad thing. We run from cops every race night almost. No way is a cop at races just to race. I mean that would make him a cop breaking the law. If he is coming around races it is because he is casing a racer. And if he is up in Dom's then it is one of us. Since he's been hanging around the diner too I would bet my car he is after Dom. And ordering Mia's crappy tuna every day. No one orders the fucking tuna. It's terrible. Mia can cook but not make tuna."  
  
"But what would Brian be undercover to find out? Surely street racing is not that big of a deal? I mean they would send someone undercover to bust street racing?"  
  
"Yes. No. I don't know. But something about Brian Earl Spilner is fishy." Vince knew damn well what a cop would be after but he wasn't talking about that to a chick he just met.  
  
"Ya, his love of crappy tuna."  
  
They shared a laugh over that. Vince looked at her. She didn't seem like a cop and he just met her. So he was going to have to trust his instincts about Brian. He looked at the clock. It was getting late. Vince asked her where she wanted to go for the night. She looked at him. He looked back.  
  
"Well, I guess I could call Manda and tell her I am still alive and go to her place. I don't want to though. I still can believe she left me there."  
  
"Well just let me take you home then."  
  
"My step dad will seriously flip Vince. I didn't want to say anything but that is not even an option. You can take me to my garage."  
  
"Your garage isn't at your home?"  
  
"Nope, it is in a garage my bother kept it in, where he was going to build us a house to get us away from my step dad. My step dad thinks the car is gone. I told him I sold it for 3 thousand bucks. Then gave him 3 grand that I 'got' for it so he would shut up. I still drive it sometimes. He doesn't know cars thank god. I should sell it and use the money to leave my stepfather but my brother left me the car and I can't bear the thought of selling it. My brother left me money but I don't get it till I turn 21 and that is still 2 years away."  
  
"That sucks. Well I can take you there then."  
  
"That'd be ok." She gave him directions and he headed that way. Nyssa decided to call Manda and tell her she was still alive and not to call Ed. Nyssa called Manda with her cell and told her she was fine. Manda asked her were she went. Nyssa was still mad, she just didn't want Manda to tell her dad or Ed she was missing.  
  
"Oh fuck you Manda. Like you care where I went. You were right beside me; Leon yells cops and you left me like garbage. Probably because that Evan asshole would have done the same thing to you if you didn't get to the car at the speed of light." Nyssa could not believe that Manda was trying to yell at her over this.  
  
"Well you could have gotten a ride to my place or called way before this. We thought maybe the cops got you. Wait a second, how do you know Leon?" Manda was ashamed of what she did and had never been so scared in her life as when she realized Evan was not going to wait for Nyssa. But how did Nyssa know people on team Torreto all of a sudden.  
  
"Well I got a ride to a party and I had a great time. Now I am going to crash here for the night." Nyssa improvised. She was going to use the info Vince had given her to her advantage.  
  
"Where are you? What party? And how do you know Leon?"  
  
"I'm at a place owned by a guy named Torreto. A nice guy named Vince brought me here. Leon lives here too so that's how I met him. They throw great parties. I guess I got lucky when you abandoned me. At least I didn't have to listen to that pseudo racer Evan any longer."  
  
Vince was listening to this with interest. Nyssa was milking her cousin for all she was worth.  
  
"Oh man, you got to go party at Dom's?"  
  
"Yes, best party ever. Oh, you didn't call Ed did you?"  
  
"No, I'm not crazy. I was gonna call him tomorrow if you didn't show up."  
  
"Good, I gotta go, we're going to dance some more. I'm staying here with Vince and Leon for now. Don't call Ed."  
  
"Kay, bye." Manda hung up and stared at her phone. Well hell. Her cousin went to one race night and was in with the Torreto's already. That was so not fair. She had been crushing on Dom for months and had never gotten a chance to even party at his house.  
  
Vince and Nyssa pulled up to the garage. It was dark and in the middle of no where. Vince wondered how she was going to get out of here the next day. Who would come get her? This place was in the back of beyond. She hopped out of the car and headed for the door on the side of garage. Vince was not going to let her walk into a dark building in the middle of no where on her own so he hopped out of his car and followed her up to the door. She was fumbling with her keys. She looked at Vince standing there beside her. She realized they were in the middle of no where and to quote Vince himself, 'she didn't know this fool for shit' but she didn't fear him. She sensed she was safe with Vince.  
  
"I just wanna check the place out to make sure it's safe." He told her.  
  
She saw the bulge of the 9mm in the waist of his pants. She wondered what kind of people him and his friends were that they carried semi automatic hand guns. But she still felt safer with him then she did when he was not with her. This was a remote place. Her brother had always planned on building his house here and she would too once she got his money. Thank god Ed was not the trustee. The person her brother put as the trustee was completely trustworthy and was making the small inheritance her brother left her turn into lots of money. It was a gorgeous place in the daylight. Had beach front and everything. 


	4. Taken up on His Offer

*note* Thanks for the reviews to this point. It is like 5am where I live so forgive me for not looking up ya'lls names but to answer to some of the things that have been said, Letty is just Nyssa's friend, my other fic doesn't have Letty, and I have taken some heat for that ;) so just to reassure all those dom/letty fans they are here in this story. And the story has lots of spaces and punctuation in Word, don't know why it would change on upload.Strange, but thanks for taking time to write me a review, it is always appreciated! Well anyways here you go. Please review, love or hate, it's all good.  
  
Chapter 4 - The Offer.  
  
She got the door open and they walked in. She flipped the light on and Vince saw her car. He was expecting a Honda civic or an Integra. Something middle of the road. Not a Skyline. Never a fucking Skyline. He thought it was a shame that Leon wasn't big on racing. A Skyline was the shit. They were impossible to get in the states for one thing. If Leon raced his he could kick Dom's ass six ways to Sunday but he just wasn't a racer. This girl had a skyline. He was floored.  
  
"Oh man what a sweet ride." He said. "You race?"  
  
"Not at all. I have no idea how. I take the car to school and stuff every once in awhile but it terrifies me. I can hardly drive the thing. Plus I know that it does not belong on the roads. It is right hand drive. My brother was just starting to teach me to drive it when he was killed."  
  
"This car could clean up at races I bet. Leon has one but he hardly ever races. He would rather man the scanner" Vince walked around the car slowly. "And it's the Japanese version too. GT-R model with the V Spec engine. Shit. I could teach you to drive her if you would let me drive her too."  
  
Vince was in love with her car. It was a purple so deep it looked black till you caught it in the right light. It had the Nismo body kit on it and Nismo decals on the rocker panels. It was a hot car. The reason why the Mazdas and Supras cleaned up at race nights is because no one could get Japanese Skylines. Everyone had tried to buy Leon's, Vince included. He hoped she would take him up on his offer and he would get to drive the car.  
  
"I would love to have you teach me what she can do Vince. Thanks for the offer. Even though I can tell you are almost ready to embarrass yourself in your pants over my car and it is the car you really want to spend time with." She laughed at the look on his face. The look said busted clear as day.  
  
"No, I would love to teach you to drive too. Though Dom would be the better one. He's a better racer." Vince felt obligated to tell her that for some reason. Likely to see if she was just after Dom, not him. If she was after Dom she would jump at the chance to have him alone in her car.  
  
"Naw, he has no patience. I mean look at how he reacted tonight. Not like we knew he was walking home. He could have been running from the cops and got far away from home. And doesn't he have a fucking cell like everyone else? Don't care how good he drives; I can't see him being much of a teacher. You have a temper too I can tell but I think you would be a better teacher."  
  
"Well thanks. You're right about Dom. When he was teaching Letty she came home pissed and upset more often then not. If you don't have a good head for taking abuse you don't want Dom to teach you shit all." Nyssa looked at her feet but he didn't notice. Vince looked around the garage. He wondered where she was going to sleep. It was a nice garage but it was just a garage. He had thought there would be a room upstairs or something. But it was just a big space, there was no upstairs. The garage had a hoist and everything. Her brother had obviously loved this car.  
  
She was caressing the fender of the car. "She's so beautiful. If I knew how to drive her right I would drive her more. Maybe even try to get on the NIRA circuit myself."  
  
"There's no fun in that. First we teach you to drive. Then we see where the trust level is. Then if we trust each other, you try to get on the team with Dom and I and the others. Then you race with us. And we tint out the windows and no one knows what side of the fucking car you're driving from."  
  
"You mean race on the street?"  
  
"Sure, for now. Most of the guys on NIRA got a start street racing you know. They don't take people with no experience onto the NIRA circuit. They expect you to have raced before."  
  
"I don't know how my brother got on then cause I know he never street raced."  
  
"Maybe he was just that good. You're going to have a hard time getting into any racing being brand new at it and a girl. That goes for street racing and getting Dom to trust you and believe you can race too. Dom is a respected racer around the NIRA circuit but something he did as a kid keeps him off it. Having him on your side and saying you raced for him can't hurt you."  
  
"Well Vince, as you say, first we try, then we trust, then we see. Well, I gotta get up for school in like 4 hours so I guess I should settle down Vince. Thanks for everything. Let me give you my cell number so we can make plans to take the car out."  
  
"Where you gonna sleep in this place?"  
  
"On the floor in that sleeping bag. I have had to do it before when Ed was drinking." She saw the look on Vince's face. "I'll be fine really."  
  
"Oh hell, come on. You can crash at our place. You shouldn't have to sleep on the floor out here in the back of beyond. What if some weirdo comes around?"  
  
"Well that has never happened and the door is locked after all."  
  
"Come on. I'm not leaving you out here." He wasn't taking no for an answer. He had a bad feeling about what would happen if he left her here. She kind of reminded him of Mia. She had the same sort of attitude it seemed and she wasn't a racer chick. Nyssa relented and came out with him, turning off the lights and locking up the garage.  
  
They drove back to Torreto's house in silence. The place was dark and Vince killed the engine and they go out. He walked around to the back door and she followed him. He let them in and turned left. She followed him down a set of stairs into a small living room. Vince and, well, all the guys but Dom, lived in the basement which had been converted into a mini apartment of sorts. There were three fair sized bedrooms, the smallish sitting room and a bathroom with a shower, sink and toilet. Leon was sitting there playing Grand Theft Auto on the PS2.  
  
"Yo Dawg, where'd you go? Dom went looking for you about an hour after he got home and couldn't find you anywhere."  
  
"We went for a ride is all. What'd Dom want?"  
  
"Don't know." Leon said with a glance at Nyssa. That meant Dom wanted to talk about something that was not common knowledge, not for ears that did not belong to people on the team.  
  
"Hey Nyssa, my room is the first one on the left, why don't you go get ready and use my bed, Kay? I'll be in shortly if you don't mind sharing? I don't mean in any way other then sleeping."  
  
"Sure Vince that's fine. Thanks for everything man."  
  
"Don't worry 'bout it. Go to bed." As she walked away Vince sat down beside Leon. Jesse had heard Vince talking and came out of his room.  
  
"So what's going down guys?" Vince asked. 


	5. All about the Car?

Chapter 5 - All about the Car?  
  
"What's with bringing her back here Dawg?"  
  
"She's harmless, well other then being Manda Williams' cousin. She had no where else to go. She was going to sleep in her garage on the floor out in the middle of no where and I wasn't leaving her there. Plus you guys bring girls over all the time."  
  
"Not to do nothing but sleep in the same bed. She's not a skank you brought home for the night V. You goin soft on us?"  
  
"No, but she's got a sweet car and she's going to let me drive it while I teach her to drive it too. Enough about my personal life already. What'd Dom want?"  
  
"He had to move the big job up two days to Monday. So don't make any plans then."  
  
"Well that's fine with me; I'm pretty open this week." They all laughed at that. Vince did his own thing. Mostly he worked for Dom at the DT garage but no one knew were he got money. Well other then the thing they all did together. But Vince did something with his days otherwise.  
  
"I'm going to bed now guys. Later." With that Vince went and knocked on his own door. He shook his head at the absurdity. "You decent Nyssa?"  
  
"Yes." The answer came and he went into the room. Her hair was up on top of her head in a messy riot of curls but she was still wearing all her clothes.  
  
"Why didn't you change for bed?"  
  
"My night stuff is at Manda's so I have nothing to change into. I thought I had it in my bag but I didn't put it in the bag before we left the house. I thought that's were I would be sleeping. I'll just sleep in my clothes. No big deal."  
  
"Oh, ok, just a sec. I'll find you something." He went to his dresser and rooted around for a minute. He found an old shirt of his. It should cover her from her neck to her mid thigh at least. That had to be better then sleeping in leather pants. "Here, wear this. I'll turn my back while you change."  
  
He turned around and she turned her back to him and striped off. Vince peaked while she was turned around. She had a nice ass he thought. He turned back around before she could catch him looking. She told him she was done and he faced her again. He told her to get in the bed and he did so too. She curled up on her side facing away from him. He lay on his side and looked at her back.  
  
"Vince?"  
  
"Ya?"  
  
"Thanks for doing this for me. It's been a long time since anyone worried."  
  
"No problem girl, go to sleep." He listened as her breathing changed to the deep, even timber of sleep. He had a lot on his mind. Was he going soft? Maybe. Why was this not a problem? It should be. The old Vince would not have brought a strange girl home out of concern for her. He only would have brought her down here if he thought he was going to get laid out of it. He didn't know if Nyssa would have slept with him or not but he found he didn't care. He hadn't wanted to think of her out there trying to sleep on the floor. And he wanted to know why she was scared of her step father too. He finally drifted off after about half an hour.  
  
Vince woke up with the girl in his arms. How did that happen? Last he remembered they had been on opposite sides of the bed. He looked at the clock. Ah shit, it was 1pm. She was going to flip. She was supposed to be at school right now she had said. He was going to have to wake her. He wondered what school she was in. He had been done by 19. It had been technical school, but he had still been done and he got a trade out of it. He shook her.  
  
"Wake up Nyssa. Hey wake up."  
  
She swatted at his face without waking up and snuggled against him closer. He wanted to let her sleep but he knew she was going to be upset as it was.  
  
"Nyssa, it is like 1 o'clock girl wake up."  
  
She came to with a start. She looked up at him.  
  
"Where am I?"  
  
"You don't remember?"  
  
The whole evening came back to her then. "I do now. Thanks for letting me crash here. What time is it?"  
  
"It's, well, um, it's 1pm."  
  
She jumped out of bed. "Oh shit, oh shit. I missed school. If they tell Ed I'm dead. Manda was going to drive me this morning. Oh fuck. I gotta call Manda and see if she told anyone anything about me."  
  
"Calm down Nyssa, and get dressed. I'll run you where ever. I'll even go in and tell them you being late is all my fault if you want. Why are you still in school anyway? Shouldn't you have graduated by now?"  
  
"Yes I should have, but when my brother died I failed a year. And the last thing I need is a strange guy coming in to tell the principal I'm late because we overslept."  
  
"Ok, I can see that would look bad." Vince laughed at the thought of how that would sound. Especially since she was standing in his bedroom wearing nothing but his old jersey. She joined him in the laughter, having come to the same visualization herself. "Want me to hide my head down under the blanket while you dress?"  
  
"No, I want to put on a strip tease for you." Vince looked hopeful for a second till she set him straight. "What are you, simple? That was sarcasm. Hide yourself!"  
  
He did so and she pulled out the clean change of clothes she had in her bag and got dressed. Today she was feeling more like herself. Black wife- beater, black leather low riders, chunky black boots, no makeup. She wondered why she was so comfortable with Vince already while she dressed. She normally didn't trust people till she got to know them. That ass she had dated at 16 had done that to her. He had pretended to like her and then when she finally gave into his pressuring and slept with him he dumped her. She had been chubby at the time and had an attitude as well and Doug and his jock friends had a bet to see if he could get the ice princess in bed. Well he had then her dad had taken care of him. She brought herself back from the past to the present. After all that is why she took care of herself now and had great, real friends.  
  
"Kay, I'm ready now, you can come out now."  
  
Vince got up, and just started to get ready; he never had her turn around. She turned on her own, face flaming. They headed upstairs and Dom was in the kitchen. Vince hadn't expected that. Dom should be at the garage and it was not even lunch time.  
  
"Wondered when you were getting up Vince. Who's that with you?" Dom expected to hear, no one she was just leaving. That was the standard 'I had a skank over last night' answer for all of them. After all Vince had been crushing on Mia since Dom himself had hooked up with Letty. He knew Vince slept with other girls but that was all it was to him normally. He was a man, with a man's needs. He was not going to wait around for Mia forever. But the girls were always skanks.  
  
"Her name's Nyssa. Nyssa, Dom, Dom, Nyssa." Nyssa shook Dom's hand. "I have to drive her, um, home, and then I'll be back Dom." Telling Dom he had to drive her to high school just sounded really bad. Nyssa looked at him like the same thing occurred to her and she was glad he fibbed.  
  
"Just a second Vince. Where did you meet her? Who is she? I would like to know more about the pretty lady."  
  
Oh shit. Vince thought. He thinks she is a race skank. He likely thinks she will jump right from my bed to his if he snaps his fingers. After all he is the catch most of the skanks are after.  
  
"She's Nyssa. I met her at the races last night. She's a friend of mine. I think she is going to become an even better friend of mine, and she has to get home or she is going to be late for work."  
  
"Oh, ok." Dom took the hint from Vince saying she was going to become a better friend. That meant she was not a skank. Well that was good. Vince needed to get over Mia, who was never going to love him in that way. He watched the two head to Vince's car. They sped off. When did they ever not speed he guessed and went back out to the garage.  
  
Vince drove her to school and let her off in front. "Say when you done for the day? I could come back for you and we could take your car for a spin." What the hell was he thinking making plans with her again already? She was going to think he was desperate.  
  
"Ok Vince that sounds great. I'm done at 3:15 ok?"  
  
"See you then, right back here."  
  
"See you then." She ran into the school and went strait to the principal's office. "Hey Mister Morris, sorry I missed this morning. I had bad cramps."  
  
Her principal told her fine and gave her a pass to get into the rest of the day's classes. Periods were the shit with Mr. Morris; he got so flustered he just told you not to worry about it. Out of Tampax was the magic phrase to get an afternoon off.  
  
She ran off and sat down in her chem. lab beside Manda. Manda was a year younger so now they had all the same classes. Manda gave her the third degree on the break. She told Manda everything. How she had stayed with Vince but nothing happened. How she met Dom and how Vince was going to teach her to drive the Skyline and maybe even race it. Manda was so envious of her. When Nyssa told her Vince was picking her up after school she could swear Manda almost decked her. Oh well, that's what you get for abandoning me there Nyssa though.  
  
The final bell rang and she ran out to where Vince was supposed to meet her. And there he was, standing beside his car, leaning on her door. She hadn't expected him to show. She ran up to him and he actually hugged her. It was hard to tell which one was more surprised. He set her down and asked her how her day had gone. She told him long and boring. He helped her into the car and then they took off. Manda watched them go, blue eyes flashing. Her ungrateful cousin never even asked her if she needed a ride. And Manda had to cover for her this morning when her stupid stepfather called looking for her.  
  
Nyssa and Vince arrived at the garage and parked Vince's car. "So Vince how do you want to do this? Do you want to leave your car here and take mine or do you want to follow me where ever?"  
  
"No, lets just take your car together. Let me drive it to the track?" He asked with such a hopeful look on his face she laughed.  
  
"Sure you can drive it there. Do you like me at all or is this interest all for my car?" She asked, semi serious.  
  
"No, I like you too. But I really want to drive this car."  
  
"Aight, let's get a move on. I have to go home for supper."  
  
"Do you have to go home for supper? I was kinda going to take you out to this great little Cuban restaurant I know. After all it's Friday." No he wasn't! That just kind of slipped out. What was with him? But the idea had appeal now that he thought of it. 


	6. Meet the Team

Chapter 6 - Meet the Team  
  
"Well I might be able to convince Ed to let me go out to dinner." Wow, she couldn't believe he asked her out. She couldn't remember the last time she got asked out. Most guys thought she was some sort of ice princess because she had kept to herself since Doug screwed her over and Danny died.  
  
"Good, let's go."  
  
They headed to the track. Vince drove there and showed her what the car could really do. She had never seen it move like this. Vince could really drive. If she could learn to drive the way he could she might just be able to get on the NIRA circuit. They got to the track and he got her to get in the drivers seat. They took it slow because she wasn't kidding when she said she could hardly drive it. She really had no idea how to shift it or when to shift it. She told him the NOS tanks were empty because the thought of NOS scared the hell out of her so she never had them filled. Vince made a mental note to do so, so he could give the car a real run. They finished up and headed for her house.  
  
She told him he would have to pretend the car was his cause her step dad thought she didn't have one. He had no idea what her brothers car had looked like. There were boxes in the front yard when she got there. She let herself in and shouted, "Hey Ed, what's up with all the boxes?"  
  
Her step dad came out of the living room and slapped her. "I know you weren't at your cousin's last night so where were you? I called the school and you didn't show up till after lunch. You little slut, you were with some guy last night weren't you?" He grabbed her and pushed her against the hall wall. "Since you're giving it out I think I'll just have some too." He moved to grab her and kissed her while he was at it.  
  
Vince was worried about her for some reason. He didn't know what made him do it but he decided to check on her. He found her in the hall struggling with a man who must be Ed.  
  
"Get off her asshole, what are you doing?" He threw the other man down the hall and looked at Nyssa, who had a small cut on the corner of her mouth from the slap. Ed came at him and Vince just stood up to his full 6'3 and stared down at him. Ed backed off. Vince put his arm around Nyssa and walked her out of the house. She opened one of the boxes and it was full of her stuff.  
  
"That bastard. He is kicking me out I would guess. This is all my stuff." She was so mad.  
  
"Well I would not let you live here now anyway after what he tried to do. Let's load it up in the car and then go back to my place." Vince couldn't stand men who beat on women ever since his dad use to hit his mom. They packed up the car full of her stuff. Ed came out as they were finished and about to get in the car.  
  
"I hope that thug is worth not having a home over you little slut!"  
  
"I'm a slut? You're the one who just tried to force your step daughter to kiss you, you creep. Jesus, you married my mother you sick fuck." She said that all loud enough to be sure the neighbours heard. "I guess you did a great job of raising me hun? Now I am a slut who runs with thugs. I guess if my kid was a slut who hung around with thugs I wouldn't scream about the fact from the front porch. What did my mom ever see in you? Did you have money at the time? Cause lets face it, you can't be much in bed. I mean a slut like me use to sleeping with guys like him," she made a thumb gesture at Vince, "wouldn't get much from a night in bed with you other then a terminal case of boredom."  
  
Vince was cracking up. Man this chick had a sharp tongue and a quick mind for insults. Her step dad was turning red. Then he started to run for the car. Thank god after years of drinking and doing not much Ed couldn't run fast.  
  
"Oh shit, get in the car Vince. Let's go!"  
  
Vince fired the car up and they took off just before Ed would have had Nyssa by the throat in the front seat. Vince looked over at the girl "You ok Nyssa?"  
  
"I'll be fine Vince. But my garage is not going to be much of a house. Not that living with Ed was much of a home to begin with."  
  
"You'll stay with us till you think of something."  
  
"I can't impose like that. I can't think of anything other then my garage. Either that or staying with my cousin's parents permanently. "  
  
"You can stay with us for now, and maybe get a job and save up some money to move into your own place. I'm offering. So it's fine. Don't argue." He said when he saw her mouth start to open. So she didn't. "What's the history there? Why are you stuck with old Ed?"  
  
Nyssa told him the whole story. Her dad was in jail for various charges stemming from being a delivery driver, but for criminals. He moved illegal goods from point A to point B no questions asked. The cops caught him on a big job and he wouldn't nark out the people he was working for at the time so he got a 7 year sentence. When her mom found out that her dad had not worked for a courier as he had told them she flipped out and took Nissan and her brother away. Nyssa thought that there had been more to it then that because unless her mom was downright simple she had to have known her dad was not making the kind of money needed to buy his kids cars for their 16 birthdays and live in a huge house on the water with a pool and everything from working for FedEx. But her mom had left her dad with that as a reason and moved to a slightly different part of California. There she married Ed. However Ed was an asshole.  
  
Her mom had turned tail and ran after a few years of taking his abuse, leaving Nyssa and Danny in his care. It seemed she wanted a way out of all responsibility, not just a way away from Ed. As soon as Danny had been done of the police academy and had a job they had moved out together. When he was killed she had to go back to old Ed because he was technically her legal guardian.  
  
If her mother could've been located she could have given her up for adoption and then she would have been a ward of the state. That would have been better the living with Ed. Ed hit the bottle then he hit whoever was closest to him. Her real dad was a great guy who had wanted to give his family all the best and had thought was he was doing was the best way to do so. But since he was in jail.  
  
She was 19 now so she had been planning on leaving Ed as soon as she was done of school and had a job anyway but he had forced her to leave a few months early was all.  
  
Vince listened to her story the whole way home. She was so matter of fact about it. Like her father being in jail and her mom running off leaving her with an abusive ass was no big deal. He called her out on that. She told him that was what happened. That was life. Being all sad and whining about it wouldn't get her dad out of jail or bring her mom back. She had to look at the positive. She said that her and her brother got their love of cars from her dad who could teach Vince and all his friends a thing or two about performance driving. But it was her dad's lawless way of making his money that had made her brother go into law enforcement. Danny had had some sort of complex about crime. Nyssa didn't get it. She had bowed to the pressure at first and told people she didn't agree with what her dad did but she didn't really care.  
  
She never told Vince Danny had been a cop and Vince just seemed to assume he had been in security or something. The word LAPD never came up.  
  
They pulled up to the house and got out. Dom came out from the backyard at the sound of the strange car pulling up to his house. He could identify all the cars on his team blindfolded just by how they ran and the exhaust profile. Vince was the only one missing and that was definitely not his car.  
  
"Where did you get that Vince?" Dom did not want someone who might some day race him to have a Skyline. He loved his Mazda but Skylines were the shit. Skylines came standard with 6 speed trannies, all wheel drive, and close to 400 horsepower at 6000 rpm. They didn't redline till 8000 rpm, and could easily be modded to hit 1000 horsepower and still be a street legal daily driver. They had to come from Japan they were not sold in the USA. There was no equivalent. The only American car that came close was a Dodge Viper or a C5 Corvette. But as soon as you hit a turn the Skyline had you because of the all wheel drive and the better chassis design. He would have to guess that this Skyline at those moddes and was running at around 1000 horsepower. Dom didn't want it racing around him for sure, but then again they said that it wasn't the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the Dog didn't they.  
  
"It's hers." Vince said with a head gesture at Nyssa.  
  
"Then why you driving it?"  
  
"Cause she wasn't feeling like driving and who am I to turn down the chance to drive a sweet ride like this?"  
  
"I guess. It a racer?"  
  
"Yep, her brother raced NIRA with it anyway."  
  
"Ya? What's his name Nyssa?"  
  
"It was Danny. He's dead now, he left me the car. Vince is going to help me with the car." She was going to say teach me to drive but she caught a signal not to from Vince.  
  
"Cool, come eat guys, Mia made chicken."  
  
"Well we was going to go out Dom." Dom looked at him like why would you go out when you could stay here with us.  
  
"This is fine Vince; we can go out tomorrow if you want to eat with your friends." Nyssa said. She thought it would be cool to see them all interact.  
  
"Ok, good chance for you to meet everyone." Vince loved weekend barbeques in the backyard. All that great food and cold Corona.  
  
They walked out back. Some song about evil ways was playing from inside the house. There was Blondie, or wait, Brian. Vince turned to look at her. She could see the anger on his face.  
  
"Maybe we will go out tonight." He told her and started to drag her down the driveway toward the car.  
  
Dom yelled at them, "Get over here Vince, and introduce your new girlfriend around." 


	7. Wash My Car When You Get Done!

Chapter 7 - Wash My Car When You Get Done!  
  
"She's not my girlfriend, she's my friend and it looks like you have all the company you need, brotha." Vince turned to leave. Nyssa stopped him. Damn that had hurt. She didn't know why. She really wasn't his girl but did he have to say it like that. Like she never would be. Like there was something wrong with her that would make her not worthy to be his girlfriend. But he was hurting too she reminded herself. He had tried to put in the work with Mia for 5 years just to be shot down time and time again. They were now out of site of the team in the backyard.  
  
"Come one Vince, let's stay. Besides isn't it better to keep an eye on him? Isn't it time to move on? You said it was." Nyssa wanted to meet his friends when they weren't all drunk and partying.  
  
"He's a fucking cop. I just know somehow that he is."  
  
"Then stick around and make sure everyone keeps their mouth shut."  
  
"OK, fine, but he pisses me off once he's walking out here a lot less pretty or he's not walking out at all And ya it is better to watch and make sure that Mia keeps her mouth shut."  
  
Nyssa tried to sooth his ego. "You're right, he's too pretty. He's not very manly. I like my men looking a little less pretty." Now she made if funny and playful. "I like 'em a little hairier and taller, more muscle and definitely with more tattoos.." Vince looked at her and laughed. He got it and it did make him feel better. He put an arm around her waste and walked her over to the table.  
  
"Well look who it is, old Coyotes are us. What's the matter pumpkin, thought you wasn't hungry."  
  
"Well we gotta eat."  
  
"Ok, sit down." Dom told them.  
  
They sat down and Vince gave Brian a dirty look across the table. Vince introduced her to Letty, Mia, Leon, and Jesse. Of course she already knew Dom. She thought she was going to like Mia lots. Letty was a very strong woman for sure. She fit right in with the guys. Nyssa wished she was so natural around guys. But of course Letty grew up with these guys. She had been plenty comfortable with her brother.  
  
Jesse went for the chicken first and had to say grace. He did the best grace she had ever heard all about car parts, he thanked god for direct port Nitrous injection, four core intercoolers, ball bearing turbos and titanium valve springs, Leon encouraging him the whole way. Dom even laughed. It was better then her family's good food good meat good golly let's eat. At least Jesse was really thankful for the things he said grace for. Dom was still kind of scary to her but he really loved these people like a family. It was written all over his face, in the way he looked at them. Dom was loyal and she had no doubt that every one of these people was fiercely loyal to him to. She stopped analysing everything and ate.  
  
They all ate too much and it was dark by the time they got the backyard straitened away. Mia would not let Nyssa help her clean up. She said that guests did not clean. Letty didn't help because she considered herself one of the guys. She let Brian help her though. Vince went to make popcorn. She heard him then from the kitchen.  
  
"Wash my car when you're done!" Mia said something back to him that Nyssa didn't catch. Vince had such a deep voice. Not like Dom's but close.  
  
"Not you Mia, I'm talking to the punk. And wear your favourite dress because when you're done I'm putting you on the street where you belong Cutie." Vince laughed at his own cleverness.  
  
Not good Vince, Nyssa thought. He doesn't know women at all. That is just going to backfire in his face. Sure enough, she could hear Mia now.  
  
"V, hey V, what's the name of the little Cuban restaurant you wanted to take me to? You know with the little candles and the food everywhere?"  
  
"Cha Cha Cha?"  
  
"Ya, that's it, well you can take me there." Nyssa could only imagine that she said the latter to Brian because Vince stormed out if the kitchen. Jesse asked were the popcorn was and Vince told him to make his own damn popcorn. He came and threw himself down on the couch with Nyssa. He was in quite a temper now.  
  
"You wanna go for another ride pumpkin, you need to get out of the house again?" Nyssa asked him. It came out sarcastic which was how she meant it. She was kind of pissed and kind of confused. Was he still into Mia or not? Nyssa was not a skank. She was not here for Vince's amusement. Either they had a shot together or not. She was not going to play around with him as a second place supplement while he hoped Mia 'came to her senses'. She would be his friend if that's what he wanted but that's not how he acted with her. Till Mia was in the picture. She didn't know if her staying here was a good idea.  
  
"No, but that guy pisses me off."  
  
"So you've said. Is that all it is? You don't trust him? Or would it be the same story no matter who the guy was if you thought Mia was falling for him? Cause quite frankly all he is doing is being nice. He has manners, he's helping her clean up after all of us, and he treats her like a lady."  
  
"I don't know, but the fact that I have this gut feeling about Spilner is not helping." He gave her a look that told her he clearly did not like her praising Spilner.  
  
"Well Vince, here's the thing. Where do you see this thing with us going? I'm not trying to imply anything at this point but Vince I will be your friend. I will even try to be more if that's what you want, but I won't be the girl you get laid with while you hope Mia comes around. Comprende?"  
  
"Ya, I get it. I don't know where I see this going at this point. I think while I get this straitened out lets just say we'll be friends."  
  
"Sound's good Vince. But I think that means I should look for another place to stay."  
  
"Why? I said you could stay with me."  
  
"Well, while you're trying to decide if you're over Mia or not what if I fall for you? I have feelings too you know. Not saying it will happen but then I am stuck in the same situation as you."  
  
"Well we have a guest room if you can put up with Letty and Dom. Dom might let you use it."  
  
"I don't want to impose on anyone."  
  
"Well then stay with me and then you won't be."  
  
"Fine." She was going to hope he picked her. What else could she do? She had a thing for him after all. "Is the fact I am staying here a secret?"  
  
"No, we just won't make a big deal out of it if you stay with me downstairs. We'll just pretend that you stay over a lot."  
  
"Isn't that strange when you told people at dinner I was just your friend?"  
  
"Well ya, but let's make them think I was just shooting my mouth off shall we." He pulled her into his lap on the couch and kissed her hard. She responded out of shear surprise and then out of sheer pleasure. Vince might be hairy and scruffy but he could kiss. Oh boy could he. Vince broke it off and she put her head down on his shoulder. If she was confused before she was really fucked up now. So was Vince. Why did he tell her he just wanted to be friends and then kiss her like he was drowning and she was oxygen itself? If they hadn't been in the family room with the whole team he wouldn't have stopped kissing her either.  
  
They watched the rest of the movie like that, her curled up against Vince, in his lap, head on his chest. Dom was curious. It was not like Vince to bring a girl around to meet them. To fuck after a race yes. To hang out with no. To have Mia see him with HELL no. Not that it was bad. Just strange.  
  
When the movie ended Vince looked down at Nyssa. She was dead to the world asleep. "G'night guys." Vince said to the room and carried her down the stairs to his bed. He put her on the bed. She slept on. He went to her car and moved her boxes down, figuring she was going to need shit out of them to get ready for bed 


	8. Who is Nyssa Williams?

Chapter 8 - Who is Nyssa Williams?  
  
Dom looked at the others. Mia had gone to bed and Spilner went home. It was just the team minus Vince. "What's up with V and this girl?" He asked the team in general. Without waiting for an answer he went on. "What do we know about her? She is staying over all of a sudden two nights in a row. And he has never brought a girl home during the daylight hours before."  
  
"Well, she is Manda Williams' cousin, she doesn't race, and she had a brother named Danny who raced on the NIRA circuit. Danny left her a sweet Skyline. She has a step dad who beats her and who kicked her out of the house. Thus she is staying with Vince. He has known her for two days. I overheard all that I need to know more info about her before I can confirm any of that on the net." That was what Jesse had overheard and picked up on over the two days.  
  
"Oh god, she's related to Manda?" Dom was not thrilled. "And wait she's living with us now? Last time I checked this was my house."  
  
"Well, when I heard her and Vince talking she said she didn't want to because it felt like she was imposing and Vince told her it was no imposition if she stayed in his room."  
  
"Jesus, Vince knows we don't need strangers around right now and he tells her she can live here without asking me?" Dom was pissed off. The fact that he brought Spilner around didn't seem to register. Leon reminded him.  
  
"She's just a kid Dom; she's 19 years old for Christ sake, Dawg. Still in high school cause she failed a grade. You brought Brian Earl Spilner the serial killer around. He's much more likely to be dangerous then a female kid." Letty punched him in the shoulder.  
  
"The fact that she is female doesn't make her stupid or weak Leon."  
  
"No but Vince thinks Spilner is a cop." Leon stuck up for his friend.  
  
"Ya, but Jesse ran a profile on him and nothing like that turned up. And Brian doesn't live here." Dom was confident in Jesse's computer skills. They found lots of dirt on Brian. But nothing that lead to him being a cop.  
  
"I know Dom but the girl is not likely to be much more then a wannabe racer who sees Vince as a way into the scene and maybe into the team." This was Jesse's opinion.  
  
"Well if that car of hers raced on the NIRA circuit she might just have a shot at it but she doesn't really seem to have it in her." Dom didn't see the girl as a racer at all. She didn't seem edgy enough. He could see Vince driving her car and winning though. There was lots of edge to Vince. He decided to just leave it alone for now. After all the team was right she was just a kid, he didn't even know what Vince saw in her. They were 24, kind of old for a 19 year old. But it had always seemed that Vince wanted the domestic type female, like Mia. Cook and clean, etc. Not a racer girl like Letty. You had to pry Letty out of the garage and make her clean up her own self let alone the house.  
  
Vince shook Nyssa awake, they were both oblivious to the fact they were the center of the discussion upstairs. She came too with a sleepy little moan. "Why'd ya wake me for? I was having the best dream." Vince sat down beside her on the bed.  
  
"Ya, bout what?"  
  
"Nothing." She said and turned bright red.  
  
"Oh, it was one of 'those' dreams was it? Was I in it?"  
  
"Vince, what kind of a question is that?"  
  
"The kind you should answer, because just maybe I could help you recreate it if I was in it."  
  
"Well maybe you were in it and maybe it belongs to stay a dream till you are sure about what you want."  
  
"Girl you're killing me. I'm sure of what I want right now."  
  
"And till you are sure you will be sure of what you want tomorrow it stays a dream."  
  
"Fine, you're no fun. You should get ready for bed if you want a ride to school tomorrow."  
  
"V, baby?"  
  
"Yes Nyssa?" He said, thinking she was going to tell him she changed her mind, cause of the tone of her voice.  
  
"Tomorrow is Saturday. I don't know how it worked when you went to school but in this century we don't go to school on Saturday."  
  
"You got a smart mouth on you. I'm not that old you know."  
  
"I got a mouth that is more then smart and I still wanna go to bed. Tomorrow I'm sleeping in. If you wake me I will kill you."  
  
"You sure you don't want to show me how that dream went?"  
  
"I'm sure I do want to show you all about it but I don't see that as a smart move."  
  
"How bout a hint?"  
  
"No, let me get ready for bed."  
  
"Go ahead, nothing stopping you."  
  
"Go watch TV or something for 3 minutes."  
  
"Fine"  
  
He went and watched Leon play his game for 3 minutes. Was Leon ever not playing a video game? Then he went back to his room which was now dark as pitch. He walked in and kicked one of her boxes because he was not expecting anything to be there. He swore softly. He found his dresser and took a clean pair of boxers out. He stripped off. Now that his eyes had adjusted there was lots of light from the full moon outside. He pulled on his clean shorts and headed for his side of the bed. He realized that Nyssa had watched him change. He crawled in bed and asked her if she like the show.  
  
"Very much so. Thank you."  
  
"Good."  
  
"V?"  
  
"Yes Nyssa?" He said with an exasperated sigh.  
  
She came up on her elbow and looked down at him. She laid her top half over his chest and kissed him. His hands came up and rubbed her back. As he went to flip her over under him she pulled away and lay on her side facing him.  
  
"That was your hint about my dream. Goodnight Vince."  
  
"You can't do this to me Nyssa. I'll never sleep now. How can you kiss me like that and then say goodnight?"  
  
"You wanted a hint." She told him coyly.  
  
"Can I have another hint?" She kissed him again but she would not let him take it any farther. She was not going to sleep with the guy just because she was there. But he felt good, half on top of her. His weight was comfortable while he held most of it on his elbows. He tried to push it and almost made her cave in with nibbling kisses down her neck. She was going to give in to him when he stopped with a groan and told her to go to sleep. He rolled off her and pulled her with him to come up against his side, her head on his bare chest.  
  
They slept in till 1pm again the next day. Vince woke up first and looked a Nyssa. She said she didn't want to be woken up but he wanted to go to Harry's and get her NOS tanks filled and then take the car for a real run. Aw hell, he would have to find out how long the thing had been just sitting in a garage. It had to be all tuned up before he could use a NOS shot if it had hardly been driven in years. He decided to risk his life and wake her.  
  
He couldn't decide how to wake her. Shake her or kiss her. She looked really good in his bed. He had to admit having a steady girlfriend who was not Mia sounded good for the first time ever. No more brushing off the girls who called wanting a repeat performance when his show was a one night engagement. Plus if he got with Mia and ever hurt her Dom would have his head. What a hypocrite. He hurt Letty all the time but if a guy ever hurt Mia Dom would give him a new face. Nyssa however had no one to cry to and besides that he liked her. She was funny, smart and not a bit of skank in her. She and Mia had a lot in common after all.  
  
He decided to go with a kiss and see where it went. Why was he putting so much thought into this? It was not like him. He leaned in and kissed her softly on the mouth. She moaned low in her chest and kissed him back, so he deepened his kiss. She arched into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He kissed her till he had to breathe or pass out. She blinked up at him with a stunned look on her face.  
  
"Morning sunshine."  
  
"I told you not to wake me."  
  
"Well I was nice about how I did it. It's 1pm girl. I want to go drive."  
  
"You woke me up for that? The keys are in my pants from yesterday. Knock yourself out."  
  
"That's not the attitude of a champ!"  
  
"It's the attitude of a girl, in a bed, who wanted to sleep all day." She rolled over away from him and pulled the covers up over her head.  
  
Vince took the blankets off her and picked her up. She was yelling at him to put her down and trying to get free but he threw her over his shoulder and went in the bathroom. He turned the cold water on and stepped in the shower with her over his shoulder. The cold spray hit her right in the butt because of the way he was carrying her. "Oh Vince you are so dead. Set me down." She yelled, more indignant then a cat in a rainstorm. He complied, slowly lowering her to her feet, making sure each inch of her rubbed each inch of him on the way down. Now they were both soaking wet, and cold and their clothes were clinging wetly to both of them. And suddenly killing him was not the first thing on her mind.  
  
Man Vince has a hard body, she thought. He was a thug likely as not she reminded her self, and muscles were no doubt a plus in his line of work. Vince was thinking this was better then a wet tee shirt contest. She followed his gaze and turned red. She crossed her arms and told him to get out. She would have to take a shower for real now.  
  
"Why don't we just share since we are both already wet?" Vince asked with a suggestive look.  
  
"Or not, get out and I'll get ready and we can go drive my car."  
  
Vince left her alone and she pulled off her wet cloths and took a shower. She used what she hoped was Vince's soap and shampoo. It smelled like him at least. Then she blow dried her hair strait and wrapped a towel around herself and headed to his room. She told him he could feel free to shower now if he wanted. He went to do so and she got dressed. She figured she may as well be comfortable if she was spending the day jumping in and out of a car. She put on a pair of velour track pants that had smallish flairs and rode low on her hips and a white tank that came down to just above her belly button. The top said superstar in little rhinestones. It was nice to just dress like she wanted. Not dress in a way that would keep Ed off her back and change later. She was just putting on her sketchers when Vince came back into the room with nothing but a towel low on his hips dripping wet still.  
  
She asked him if he knew he was supposed to dry off before he left the bathroom. He told her no and grabbed her and pulled her to him. He was all wet but he smelled good. She tried to get free. He just wanted to get her wet and riled up. He liked the way her eyes flashed when she was pissed. She got revenge on him by licking a drop of water off his chest. She told him he smelled so good. Then told him it was too bad he woke her up to take her car for a run and left the room. Vince groaned. What had he gotten himself into?  
  
He got dressed and found her out playing PS2 with Leon. She was kicking his ass. He told her he was ready. She asked him if he owned any clothes that did not look like all his other clothes. He told her she was funny. Leon laughed at them, he enjoyed the dynamic the two had already and hoped that Nyssa was going to be as good for Vince as he thought she would be. They headed upstairs. But everyone hooking up with nice girls made him wonder if he was ready to give up the skanks.  
  
Mia, Dom and Letty were all in the kitchen. Mia looked from Vince to Nyssa and if Nyssa was not mistaken the other girl looked pissed. So she hadn't wanted Vince but no one else should have him either eh? Well that was too bad. She liked Mia but it was downright mean to play with anyone's feelings like that. Dom took in Vince's wet hair and Nyssa's wet shirt and put two and two together and came up with 5. Dom smirked. *Just friends hun.* he though. Mia asked if they wanted anything to eat. Nyssa looked at Vince for a queue of if they did or not. Vince told Mia no, they were taking off to get some stuff done and would grab something while they were out.  
  
Dom asked Vince where in the hell his Maxima was. Vince told him stashed in Nyssa's garage. Dom had to know all about it. Nyssa filled him in and told him she was going to build a house there someday. She didn't know she was giving Dom all the info she needed to dig into her identity and her past. He thought her garage sounded as well set up as DT but on the scale of one car, not 5 like his. And of course he took in cars too. He ran a business; she just had a nice place to work on her own car. He told them he would like to see it someday. Nyssa told him no problem then she and Vince took off.  
  
She let Vince drive the car and they hit McDonald's for a burger then they hit Harry's. There was Mr. Serial Killer, Spilner. Vince couldn't believe the guy still worked here after Dom called and told Harry what he did. Vince bypassed Brian and went right to Harry. They talked, Harry asked Vince when Dom was racing again and how things were going. Then he asked what Vince needed that day. Vince told him to fill up the NOS tanks. It was then that Harry noticed the girl browsing the rims. Harry asked who it was. Vince told him her name.  
  
"So you need NOS for her car?" Harry asked. "What she drive?"  
  
"Well I just need the tanks filled, the system is all set up, and she drives a Skyline."  
  
"What version?"  
  
"It is the GT-R, V-spec, '99 R-34 and Dom says it sounds like it is running at around 1000 horse."  
  
"Sweet and you say she has no idea what she has?"  
  
"She does now because I was so interested but she can hardly drive it. She wants to learn and I get to drive it while she does. But it has been sitting pretty well unused for a couple years so I need to get the tanks filled then get Jesse to help me tune it up."  
  
"Well let's bring the tanks in and have them filled." The two men went and brought the NOS tanks into the store. Harry had one of the other guys fill them, not Spilner. Vince didn't think that Spilner seemed to be doing much of anything. Nyssa walked over to them. Harry shook her hand and told her what a nice car she had. She thanked him and told him that all she knew about it was it was fast and a pretty color but that she hoped Vince was going to change that for her. Harry laughed and asked her if she had seen anything she liked in the rims. She told him sure but the rims on the car were nice already. Harry asked what they were and Nyssa looked to Vince to answer that. Vince told Harry he thought they came from Veilside but he wasn't quite sure. However they were 18 inch and chrome.  
  
The guy came out with their NOS and they headed out. Vince paid for it; he insisted that he was going to be the only one using it for awhile so he should pay for it. They headed back to DT. She asked him why they were not going to the track and he told her he had to tune the car first. She didn't know why so he explained about how a NOS shot stresses an engine but a well tuned engine set up for it can absorb the stress. But an engine not set up for NOS or one that is not tuned well can end up fried or blown up from the NOS and since her car had barely been driven in a couple years, it had to be tuned and adjusted and no one could do that better then Jesse. Vince was surprised she picked it all up and seemed to understand.  
  
They got to the garage and Dom, Jesse and Leon were there. Dom asked what was wrong with the car and Jesse had the hood open before Nyssa was out of the car. He loved engines. They opened the hood and looked at her engine. It was nicely equipped. Vince had known that from the way it drove but it was really nice. Vince answered Dom's question and told him and Jesse it needed a full tune up so they could use the NOS they just picked up.  
  
Jesse and Vince started in on it and Nyssa stood off to the side and watched and listened to the music Dom had playing. Dom started to ask her questions about her family. He asked her where her dad was and she told him Lompoc. Wrong answer she knew right after she said it because of the look on his face. He told her he had done two years there about 4 years ago and asked her how long her dad had been in. She told him 4 years and at least 3 more to go before he was up for parole. He asked for her dad's name and she couldn't not tell him. She told him Mark Williams. Dom knew the guy.  
  
Dom was like oh, the transporter. She told him that that was what he was in for. He asked about her brother. She told him Danny had been a racer and that her dad's lawless life had driven Danny to a career in law enforcement. Dom seemed to care more then Vince had and asked her want kind of law enforcement. She told him he had been a cop, LAPD. She could somehow tell you didn't lie to Dom. She knew instinctively what would happen if he caught her in a lie would be much worse then what he would do now that he knew her dead brother was a cop. He asked her if she ever thought of law enforcement. She told him no. She wanted to race her car but Vince told her she had a lot of work to do first.  
  
Dom nodded. He filed away the info that her last name was Williams and asked her if Nyssa was short for anything. She said yes it was and then clammed up. He pushed her. She hated her full first name. She gave in and told him it was Nyssandre and she got Nyssa from her brother because of the Nyssa-Nissan thing. Dom laughed.  
  
Dom wanted to know how she met Vince. She didn't really know what to tell him. She decided to give an abbreviated version of the truth a try. She told him Vince had picked her up last race night when he saw her walking away from the race when the cops showed up. And that she had thought that she might be better off getting picked up by the cops then get in the car with a strange guy who called her baby right out the gate but she was glad she changed her mind.  
  
Dom liked the look in her eyes when she looked at Vince. She genuinely liked him. He didn't like the fact her bother had been a cop but at least she was honest about it and the guy wasn't around to come after them. If the cops were looking out for her Vince wouldn't have had to rescue her from her step dad.  
  
Dom remembered Mark from the jail. The guy was tough but fair. He took care of himself and his friends. No worries there either. The guy knew when to keep his mouth shut and was not going to nark them out even if Nyssa should ever find stuff out and tell him. Besides that Dom was fairly sure that Vince was not stupid enough to tell the girl anything at this point. He hardly knew her after all. But Vince had a tendency to act first, think later. He was hot headed and hot tempered.  
  
Nyssa walked away from Dom and walked over to Vince and Jesse and peered into her car's engine. She asked the guys how it was going. Jesse told her good, everything looked like it was still in good shape and after a couple more adjustments it would be good to go. Jesse asked her if she wanted to learn to work on her car too or just to drive it. She told him she would learn to work on it too. She enjoyed cars and really had no other career plans. Dom thought maybe if things worked out she could come work for him and Jesse could teach her how to work on engines. They started it up and Jesse listened to it for a second and then sniffed the exhaust.  
  
"Still running a bit lean. Shut it off for a second." Jesse could tell all that from listening to the car and smelling the exhaust? Nyssa wondered about that. He sure knew cars. He opened the hood again and adjusted a couple other things and had Vince start it up again. "There you go, purring like a kitten." Jesse said this time. 


	9. Would you still hug me?

Chapter 9 - Would you still hug me?  
  
Vince slammed the hood closed and told her they were ready to go do it. They climbed in the car. Vince asked Dom if he wanted to come out of courtesy, he really wanted to go just him and Nyssa. Dom declined so they headed out. Vince had her drive for awhile when they first got to the track and he taught her more about shifting and when to shift. He got her up to 100 miles an hour. He showed her what all the gauges should read like at that speed. They did it a couple times from dead stop to high speed. He didn't get her to accelerate too fast yet. They concentrated on getting the shifts perfect. Fast and smooth at the exact right time. Then after about an hour of those drills they stopped and changed seats.  
  
Vince strapped on his harness and told her to do the same, and then he checked hers over for her. He pulled up to the start line.  
  
"You ready?" He asked?  
  
"As I'll ever be." Came the answer  
  
Vince was in neutral. He revved it up to 4000 then let it drop to idle. She sounded good, ready to run. He slammed it into first and took off. He flew up to 120 then checked the gauges. He hit the NOS. Tires screamed and the force threw them back into the seats deep. The scenery was literally a blur at these speeds. She glanced over and they were now going 140. Vince hit the second shot after checking all the gauges. They hit 150 and then 160 before Vince started to slow down. That was burying the needle for the car. Nyssa had a grip on the door handle but she was smiling and breathless.  
  
"Can we do it again? I wanna do it again!" She was almost jumping up and down in her seat.  
  
"Not today. I think the car has had enough for the day. Let's take it back to your place, get my car and get some dinner?"  
  
"Ok Vince. Sounds good."  
  
They drove the car to her garage and got it settled in. They climbed into Vince's car and he took her to the restaurant. From where they were seated she could see out the window. They ordered and she asked him about how he came to be with Dominic. He told her that they had been friends for as long as Vince could really remember. Vince had loved Dom's dad like his own father because he had a crappy dad himself. He said that his mom and dad fought a lot and sometimes his dad would hit his mom. Then when he was 8 his dad had left them. His mom had raised him alone from that point. Mr. Torreto had taught him about cars right along side Dom. Vince had pretty well moved in with the Torreto's from the time he was 10, then when his mom died when he was 12 they took him in.  
  
He had called them mom and dad right along with Dom and they took that to heart and treated him just like one of their kids, punishing him when he messed up and having him work in the store and at the track with Dom. He had been at the track the day Giovanni, or Van, as everyone called him, died and it had hit Vince almost as hard as Dom. She asked him what made him think of Mia as a potential girl friend and not as a little sister. Vince told her he couldn't really tell when his feelings for Mia changed. He just knew they did at one point.  
  
They headed back to the house. Vince went to work with Dom at the garage for awhile. Nyssa was left to her own devices. She went around 9 and got ready for races that night. Nyssa was going with the team to hang out since she was far from ready to race. She took a shower and left her hair curly. She did her makeup her own way, black eyeliner and mascara and lip gloss. She headed to Vince's room and started to pick out an outfit. Since she had been dressed similar to Letty last race night she figured that something similar would be good tonight. She was standing in the middle of Vince's room in her underwear and a towel when a knock came at the door. She called out asking the person to identify themselves. It was Mia. She told her to come in.  
  
Mia wanted to know what she was wearing. Nyssa admitted quite honestly that she had no idea and that was why she was not ready yet. She thought maybe her blue tank top and black leather low rise pants with a funky belt. She would leave some belly bare but not enough, she thought, to be skanky. Mia agreed that she would fit in with the team in that outfit. It was different enough to be original from the other girls but the same enough she would look like she was with the team. She was not sure where Vince was. She thought he would be back by now. Of course he didn't have to get ready; all he ever wore was jeans and tank tops. And half his tank tops were camouflage print and the other half were mesh. Well it was not that bad but close. The boy did not have a lot of different styles of clothes. Tank tops, a few tee shirts, work pants and jeans.  
  
She and Mia were lying on Vince's bed listening to music and talking when Vince came home to get ready. Contrary to what Nyssa thought he was not going to go out tonight without changing his clothes after slaving in hell's kitchen the garage all afternoon on some stupid Civic belonging to a kid with more money then brains. He walked into his room and saw Nyssa and Mia on his bed talking. He took a second to take in the sight before him. It was almost too much. He walked all the way into the room and they looked up at him. Mia got up and excused herself. Nyssa stretched like a cat, arching her back off the bed, hands over her head. She sat up then and looked at Vince.  
  
"I wondered if you were going tonight. I was beginning to think I would have to go with Mia and Letty." Nyssa was looking at Vince like he was chocolate and she had been denied that treat for months.  
  
"Had to finish up a Civic for some stupid kid. He needs it by tonight and since he is paying well and in cash Dom wanted to oblige him. Now I gotta get ready then we leave."  
  
"Ok. I guess I won't ask you how your day was then dear."  
  
"Not if you value that pretty little ass you won't. You spent the rest of your day relaxing here while I slaved in a hot garage. Pointing out the differences in how our days went would not be the smartest thing you ever did."  
  
"Really? So you don't want to know how I laid out in the backyard for an hour to work on my tan," She said, crawling to the end of the bed, "and then you really don't want to know about how Mia and I went shopping in an air conditioned mall. And you really really don't want to hear about the cool shower I took just before I got dressed. Or how nice it is to be cool, clean and comfortable." She laughed at the look on Vince's face.  
  
"I warned you not to talk about it." Vince walked over to the side of the bed she was on. He had already pulled his shirt off just after Mia left the room since it had been covered in grease. He leaned down and grabbed her, and pulled her up against him. He proceeded to kiss her very deeply. She kissed him back, running her hands up his back. He broke off the kiss.  
  
"And that was supposed to punish me how?" Nyssa didn't understand how he thought he was punishing her here.  
  
"Cause I am dirty and scruffy and these are the clothes I worked in all day."  
  
"Well you smell like, well, you. Like a big manly man. And you are always scruffy. It is part of your charm." She ruffled his hair more then it already was. She was making this plan backfire pretty well.  
  
"I'll never get women. Any other time you would have been all over me about how bad I smelled. When I try to use it to my advantage I smell good."  
  
"Pretty much. Is that what you're wearing tonight?" She asked as she took in his shirtless state and the jeans low on his narrow hips.  
  
"No, I gotta take a quick shower then I'll get ready.  
  
Vince went and took his shower and came back to his room to get ready. Nyssa had headphones on and was sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the stereo. Vince threw on jeans and the first two tank tops that were clean in his drawer, which happened to be a black and white camo print and a black mesh one and he was ready. He walked over to Nyssa and pulled the headphones off her head.  
  
"Whatchya listening to?"  
  
"21 Questions."  
  
Vince pulled the headphone jack out and the song filled the room. Nyssa restarted the song. Vince liked rock and roll and trance when he was partying and that was about it, he was not big on hip hop but he listened to the song anyway. He asked who was singing and Nyssa told him the guys name was 50 cent. Nyssa loved the song. Vince thought about the lyrics. There were a lot of parallels between what the other guy was singing about and how Vince felt when he was with girls. "If I didn't smell so good would you still hug me?" Well he guessed he knew the answer to that now with Nyssa at least. He turned off the stereo.  
  
"Let's go, Dom'll be pacing upstairs waiting on us as it is."  
  
Vince was right and Dom was in fact pacing around waiting for them to be ready.  
  
"Could you two not have waited till after races to get it on?" Dom assumed that was what kept them.  
  
"We were waiting on Vince to clean himself up cause you made him work all evening, not on us to finish up what you implied." Nyssa was embarrassed to talk about this in front of everyone. "Let's go if you're in such a rush."  
  
They headed out and climbed into their cars. Dom in his Mazda, Letty in her Nissan and Mia went with her, Jesse in his Jetta, Leon in his Skyline, and Vince and Nyssa in Vince's Maxima. They headed down to the alley and were the last ones to arrive. They pulled in and were enveloped by the crowd. Her cousin Manda saw her climb out of Vince's car. Then saw Vince walk around and put an arm around her when another racer tried to talk to her. Manda still did not know how Nyssa had ended up on the Team just like that.  
  
If Manda had asked Dom she would know that Nyssa was far from on the Team. She was tolerated now; she had a long way to go before she would be on the team. And Dom had to see how well she learned to drive. She could be a team member even if she never raced but she would have to be useful somehow. Like she would have to work in the store with Mia or go to school and learn mechanics.  
  
Nyssa wondered where Mr Serial Killer was. She didn't see Brian anywhere but she saw Mia looking. Of course she had heard from Vince who heard from Dom that Brian's car had been destroyed by the Trans and he had no car. He still owed Dom a car from last race night. Nyssa doubted that Brian would come around tonight. Even though Dom seemed to accept him. She didn't think you could completely disregard Vince's unease about Brian's story. She was standing beside Vince, who had his arm around her since that other guy talked to her.  
  
"Nyssa, hey earth to Nyssa?" Vince could see that she was in another world.  
  
"Huh, what? Sorry. I was thinking about something."  
  
"Obviously. We were talking to you for like 5 minutes and you never once looked up." Vince wondered what she had been thinking about.  
  
"Sorry bout that. I was just thinking about my car. We should bring it next time just to park it and show it off some."  
  
"Good idea. Anyway, Dom wanted to know if you have any thoughts on Spilner." Vince had mentioned to Dom how Nyssa seemed to have an almost uncanny knack for picking up things about people and since Vince was still so sure Brian was not how he appeared Dom wanted to know what she thought of him. Especially since she was a slightly impartial third part. She answered them after making sure Mia was off talking to the girls around Hector's team.  
  
"Just that he is too pretty to be real almost. He seems kind of Valley to me for someone who is supposed to be from Arizona. But he is also hiding something. I don't know what so don't ask but he is. Sometimes I just know stuff and I know that Brian is hiding something. Same as I know Dom doesn't trust me totally yet, Letty isn't sure I am not after Dom, Mia is totally honest and she doesn't hide anything. Leon and Jesse ran from something really scary before they ended up here with you all." She always said she was just a bit more in tune with feelings people projected then the average person.  
  
"That's freaky. You got that all figured out how?" Dom wanted to know. Normally when he turned on the charm people didn't know he didn't trust them at all.  
  
"Don't know. It's just something I have always been able to do."  
  
Vince thought that was freaky as well. He wondered if she had picked anything up from him. He decided to ask her. "You figure out anything about me?"  
  
"Nope." The look she gave him said different and he pushed her for more info. He knew she had thought of something.  
  
"Come on. I can tell you have something."  
  
"Vince, trust me, it's nothing." She knew he was still more into Mia then he was letting on to her.  
  
Dom called the start of races. He got Hector to hold the money and it ended up that Dom, Hector's cousin Jose, and this other guy named Steve were going to race. Dom raced and won the 6 grand. There were more races and they had to rush off to different streets every time to confuse the cops. Then the met up back at the alley. They hung out there for awhile then headed home. 


	10. I Thought You Were Over Her?

Chapter 10 - I Though You Were Over Her?  
  
They had a big party at Dom's house afterward. Nyssa, Letty and Mia were all up dancing. Vince fooled around with his guitar and watched them dance. Dom also watched the girls dance. Nyssa noticed the way Dom watched Letty dance. He was so intense. He looked like he was analyzing her right down to the core. Vince was talking to a blonde chick and playing guitar. She wondered what was up there. If she was a friend or more.  
  
Oh well. She grabbed Mia and they did a crazy dance to the music. She had already had the one beer she had decided it was ok to have. But she was pissed about Vince and she went and got another one. She brought it back and she and Letty did some dancing. Letty was way more fun to dance with. They were doing a booty shake together that would lead people to believe there was more to them the friends. Dom looked even more intense now and she even had Vince's attention.  
  
She knew this was not the time to worry about it but she wondered if Vince really cared about her. Or if he saw her as a nice girl who had a car his wet dreams were made of. Dom couldn't take his eyes off Letty and Nyssa could tell he was getting hot and bothered by the way the two of them were dancing. Vince had gone back to talking to blonde. She wondered if he would even care if she went after some other guy. Say someone like Leon. Leon was cute and he wasn't having any luck with the ladies tonight. But he wouldn't get with Nyssa as long as there was a chance Vince was interested in her. She needed to know. She thought she should talk to Manda about it before she made any decisions. Manda had way more experience with guys. *The little slut* Nyssa thought affectionate.  
  
Leon and Jesse tried to pick up all night. It was funny because it was going no where, for once. Brian showed up and danced with Mia for awhile. A slow song came on and Brian pulled Mia into his arms. Dom got up and grabbed Letty. Since she had no man to dance with she headed to the kitchen for another beer. On her way off the floor Leon grabbed her arm and asked her to dance. She loved the song and hadn't wanted to stop dancing so she said sure. She wanted to dance with Vince but, well, Leon was here and wanted to dance with her. Leon pulled her close and they began to move to the music. He told her a joke and she laughed. He was funny. Leon liked Nyssa. She was cute and funny. But he wasn't quite sure how Vince felt about her and really shouldn't have asked her to dance. Vince was liable to get into it with him over it. Oh well.  
  
Vince tried to lose Blondie for the 4th time and she was not having it. He leaned around her and saw Nyssa dancing in Leon's arms. What the fuck? He thought. Well you haven't so much as talked to her since you all got home. He reminded himself. Were that Mia he would have been very attentive all night long. He got up and cut in on her and Leon. She looked at him cool as you please and asked him how his night was. Not so good he told her cause Candy would not accept the fact that he was not interested. Nyssa gave him a look like whatever. She asked him why he didn't just get up and come over to her long ago if that was the case and Vince thought fast and told her he couldn't dance. It wasn't really true but maybe it would work. He could do this kind of sway in a circle thing ok but he didn't dance to club music. She gave him a look that clearly said that was not cutting it.  
  
The song was over and she told Vince quite honestly she was ready to take a break and she wanted to get another drink. Vince asked her if she often drank. She admitted that the first time ever had been at the first party at the house that he had brought her to. Vince asked how many drinks she had already had and she told him two beers and she was getting a third. He told her no. She disagreed with him. He won for the moment when he pulled her over to a couch and they sat down. Vince looked across the room and saw Brian and Dom talking.  
  
Brian and Dom talked and Brian told Dom he would have something for him in the next couple days. He wouldn't say what. Vince looked at Brian with suspicion. He really didn't buy the story that a kid that worked the counter at Harry's had a car worth 80 large. Especially since the kid lived in Harry's back room. He couldn't even afford his own place. There was no sign of Letty or Mia.  
  
Brian headed for the kitchen. Nyssa didn't notice him go. Vince did and he excused himself. To go to the washroom he told Nyssa but he really followed Brian. He saw him grab Mia and they kissed. Vince saw red. He thought he was over it but he really didn't want Spilner around the place. He pushed Brian off Mia. Mia screamed at Vince to leave Brian alone. Nyssa heard the commotion and went to investigate. She saw Vince fighting with Brian. Obviously over Mia. She was mad and upset all at once. She saw Letty looking at the fight with distaste as well. Letty then headed toward the living room. She followed her intending to dance with her some more. She almost ran into the back of Letty who was stopped in the door to the living room.  
  
She followed Letty's gaze to where it rested on Dom. And the infamous blonde chick, who were dancing together. That bitch was really making the rounds tonight. Letty went for them. Nyssa held her back.  
  
"Letty, it's not worth getting in a fight over in front of all these people."  
  
"But they're all over each other." Letty was livid.  
  
"Yes and if you go up in there and fight the bitch then she wins. She made you jealous which tells her all she needs to know."  
  
"Which is?"  
  
"That you are scared that that little blonde skank has the power to take your man away you. You. Letty, his girl, and the girl who races, not just watches but races. Why do you think when I saw Vince fighting Brian over Mia I just walked away. I got no call to be jealous over that. Vince'll have to explain it to me when I call him on it. No way is it Mia who is at fault. Same thing, sort of for you. Well Blondie is after Dom. But if he encourages her that is on him."  
  
"You are so right. And do you know what is going to happen about it?"  
  
"No, tell me."  
  
"We are going to get into Dom's tequila and get shit faced." Letty gave her an evil grin.  
  
"Sounds good." She grinned back.  
  
So they did. They each did 3 shots of it. Big ones. They looked at each other then rhymed in unison, "one tequila," slammed back a shot, "two tequila," slammed back the next one, "three tequila," slammed one more, then stood up and fell into each other and shouted "FLOOR". Then they laughed uncontrollably against each other. Everyone in the kitchen cheered.  
  
Dom heard the crowed saying "Fight. Fight. Fight." And had to go check it out. He found Brian and Vince pounding on each other yet again. Dom had to pry Vince and Brian apart. He sent Brian home, inviting him over the next day for another barbeque and telling him he would have some sense beaten into Vince by then, who was dead sober any way and Dom had no idea what he was thinking. If Mia wanted Brian what did Vince have to say about it when his girl had stayed over the last three nights in a row? Just as he was about to go in at Vince they both heard the cheering and went into the kitchen to see what was up.  
  
Dom and Vince walked in to see Nyssa and Letty dancing on the kitchen table in their bra's swinging their shirts over their heads with a crowd of guys all around them cheering them on. Both girls saw the guys at the same moment and their mouths formed simultaneously the word "shit". They climbed down as Dom and Vince fought their way over to the girl's side. Dom spoke first.  
  
"What the hell has gotten into you two?"  
  
Letty and Nyssa glanced at each other and sing songed, "One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor!" They dissolved into giggles, holding each other for dear life as they quaked with laughter trying not to end up on said floor.  
  
The guys looked at each other then back at the girls and sighed. They both saw the now half empty bottle of tequila. Each one threw his respective girl over his should and headed for the proper room. The party broke up about then with Mia and Jesse shoeing people out of the house.  
  
Dom and Letty fought and then made up the way they always did. It was same old shit different day for Letty and Dom.  
  
Down in Vince's room he was going in at Nyssa.  
  
"I thought I told you no more liquor."  
  
"So what? You're not my dad, or my keeper. I can get drunk if I want to. And man am I drunk. I think. Never been drunk before so I have nothing to compare it to. Plus you hardly looked at me all night, then you fought Brian over Mia, the girl you are supposedly over. So what if I had something to drink?"  
  
"I know what I did was stupid but I thought he was forcing her, OK? What does that have to do with you getting drunk and putting on a strip tease in my kitchen?"  
  
"Everything."  
  
"I guess I just don't see how?"  
  
"You never looked at me all night, it took Leon asking me to dance to make you notice me, you got in a fight over another girl, you never noticed I left the room because you were busy with Blondie till I was shit faced. The whole time I was dancing with the girls you were talking to some other girl. Do you know Dom could not take his eyes off Letty the whole time we were dancing? The whole time, Vince. Not just when we got kind of dirty, the whole time. He was just staring at her with this, fucking intense look, and you were talking to a blonde skank. I guess I have my answer. You are not ready for us. Either you still want Mia or you need to get more over her before you start a relationship with another girl."  
  
"You finished?" He continued without waiting for her to answer. "I don't dance. I did get jealous when I saw you with Leon, I was talking to Candy and didn't see you leave but it was cause she would not shove off, Dom and Letty have been together forever, they are bound to look at each other, I am over Mia, I thought Brian grabbed her and forced her to kiss him and once I started to fight him if felt good and I couldn't stop. And I don't know what I see happening with us." He knew parts of that answer were lame ass but hoped she was too drunk to notice. No such luck.  
  
"Ya well, if anything the fact that Dom and Letty have been together so long should make them less intense not more. And she caught him dancing with the same blonde chick you were and she wanted someone to drink with so I obliged her since I was pissed at you for both ignoring me and for telling me I couldn't have another beer."  
  
"I'm sorry for not being as attentive as you would have liked me to be ok? I am not use to having a specific girl at these things alright. Now can we go to bed?" Vince didn't want to talk about it because that meant he had to think about it and he didn't want to.  
  
"Yes we can." With that she started to strip off right in front of him and she didn't stop she just took off all her clothes. Then she crawled into bed naked. She was asleep in seconds. Vince stood beside his bed in shock. He shook it off and stripped to his shorts and turned out the light and went to bed. 


	11. I Could Rock Your World

Chapter 11 -  
  
Vince woke up first the next day. He was disorientated at first because of the warm feeling of the girl against his side. The naked girl against his side. He didn't remember how that came about. Then he remembered that Nyssa had pasted out naked in bed after last nights festivities.  
  
She was so peaceful in her sleep. So unlike how she was during every waking moment. What had possessed her to get drunk like that? No doubt Letty put her up to it. Letty had a fight with Dom and needed someone to get drunk with her. Mia would never, because Mia didn't drink. Ever. She was not yet 21 and while Dom would have looked the other way while she had a few she never did. Who knew if she would when she came of age either?  
  
But it seemed that at only 19 Nyssa could already knock them back. She was still up against his side and her hot breath was tickling his neck. She murmured in her sleep and her hand moved from his shoulder down to his waist and she must have had an itchy nose because she rubbed it on his chest.  
  
"You awake?" Vince asked. She was acting sort of awake.  
  
"I am now that you spoke, your chest rumbles when you do that." She stated, still half asleep.  
  
"Aw muffin. It is 11am after all. Not too early. You have a headache?"  
  
"Nope, should I?"  
  
"After all that tequila, yea."  
  
"I feel fine. But it is Sunday and I don't think it matters when I get up. So I think I will try to go back to sleep." She snuggled closer to Vince and then started to come to the realization that she could feel Vince the whole way down her tummy and chest, and legs. Oh my lord, what did she do? "Um, V, where are my clothes?"  
  
"While you were drunk you crawled in here that way. You don't remember?"  
  
"No I sure don't. Um, did anything else I don't remember happen?"  
  
"No, trust me if that happened you would remember no matter what."  
  
"Your confidence is admirable, but if I didn't remember I didn't wear clothes to bed then I wouldn't likely remember anything else either."  
  
"You underestimate my ability to rock your world."  
  
She laughed, rolling over onto her other side and grabbing herself around the middle she was laughing so hard. She couldn't believe Vince was so arrogant. She rolled over onto her back, careful to keep the blankets up around her armpits and laughed some more. There were tears running down her cheeks and she was gasping for breath.  
  
"Hey that's not nice. What you don't believe me?"  
  
"Vince, nothing personal but I don't think I would remember anything if I didn't remember to dress. I couldn't even tell you when I went to bed or how I got here."  
  
"It was just after 2am and you got here over my shoulder."  
  
"See I had no idea."  
  
"Well get up and get dressed and let's go take the car out for a spin."  
  
"Is that all you ever want to do?" She laughed.  
  
"No, it comes second to what I really want to do." He leered at her.  
  
"Get out and let me get dressed."  
  
"The fact that I was here watching didn't seem to bother you last night."  
  
"Yea well now it does so go."  
  
Vince left the room and she got up and wrapped the towel left over from Vince's shower yesterday around her and ran to the bathroom. She showered quickly and did her hair in a ponytail so she wouldn't have to dry it. She left the bathroom in her towel and peeked into the bedroom. It was empty. She hauled on pink track pants with a white stripe down the side and black tank top. She slid on her sneakers and headed toward the stairs. Vince and Leon were sitting there talking but they shut up as she walked up.  
  
She told Vince she was ready to go. She wanted to know what they had been talking about. She knew it had been about her. They both looked guilty. She decided to confront them on it. She asked them what they had been talking about and neither one would answer her. They looked at each other, then at the ground. Leon told her it had been nothing, just guy stuff.  
  
"Well, it just so happens that we aren't going out of this room till one of you tells me what you were talking about. And let me tell you, if you just leave without telling me what I want to know, you will both regret it." She looked from one to the other.  
  
"Well um."  
  
"You see we." Vince didn't want to tell her. He and Leon had been talking about their dance. And what that dance had meant to Leon. He liked Nyssa he told Vince and since Vince seemed to be, well, up to his old ways, he figured that he and Nyssa had a simple business relationship. He was had seen Vince with the blonde chick and then fighting over Mia he had figured that Nyssa stayed with Vince downstairs just because it was easier then having to get Dom to let her stay upstairs.  
  
She watched them look at each other then at her. "Well, I'm waiting." She could see them try to think up something to tell her. What, did they think they could cook up a story psychically like Miss Cleo? "Vince, Leon, stop trying to come up with a lie. I can smell the smoke. You shouldn't try to force your brains to do thinking that is beyond your limited brain power."  
  
They sarcastically smirked at her. "We were talking about your little bender and what I may have done to cause it in some little way." Vince admitted.  
  
"Well, now, was that so hard? Let's go take the car for a run shall we. Well come on." She gestured to Vince to get up. She believed him, she also believed there was more to it then that but at least he told her something.  
  
They headed upstairs and there was Letty, sitting at the kitchen table with her head in her hands looking miserable. Nyssa asked her what was wrong. Letty looked at her like she had three heads and asked her how in the world she was so happy and awake and not, well, feeling like death warmed over. Nyssa told her she had just felt fine when she got up. She asked if Letty was sick. Letty told her she was hung over, just like Nyssa should be. Nyssa laughed and said she did not seem to be prone to hangovers.  
  
Nyssa asked them if they wanted breakfast. Letty thought that might help her feel better so she said yes. Nyssa might not know how to race her car but she could find her way around the kitchen. She made scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, pancakes, and toast. Just as the three of them were starting to eat Dom came downstairs.  
  
"I thought I smelled breakfast. Where's Mia? She not hungry?"  
  
"Haven't seen her yet today." Vince stated. Then made a face when he realized he owed her an apology.  
  
"Then who made breakfast?" Dom gave a suspicious look at Letty. Her cooking was gross.  
  
"Nyssa." Vince stuffed his face full of pancake and moaned. "It's good too." He said through the mouthful of food.  
  
"Vince, do you have any manners at all? Chew, swallow, then speak." Nyssa swatted him then ate one of the pancakes herself. "Yum, he's right though, it is really good."  
  
Dom sat down and took a plate of food equal to what Vince had. *Thank god I made lots* Nyssa thought. These guys could sure eat. There was still lots of food which was good because Leon and Jesse came sniffing up from the basement and dug in too. Dom looked at Letty and grinned. He told her that she would remember this next time she though she should get drunk. Letty swallowed and stuck her tongue out at him. She told him maybe he would remember next time and not feel up the skanks. Dom gave her a dirty look. They finished up and by the time the guys were done there was no food left to eat.  
  
Mia walked in the back door just then with bags of food.  
  
"Hey Mia!" The group chimed in unison.  
  
"Hey guys. Letty you look like shit. That'll teach you to get so loaded. I went and bought all the food for the barbeque today. I gotta get started on the food." Mia dragged the stuff into the kitchen and started to unpack it all and put it away. She bought food enough for an army.  
  
"Mia has to make the best food ever since her darling Brian will be here." Nyssa sing songed and pulled on Mia's braided hair. Mia laughed and swatted at her. Mia looked at the remains of breakfast.  
  
"Hey who cooked all that breakfast? Don't tell me Letty. I'll wonder how any of you are still alive." Mia shuddered at the thought of eating Letty's cooking.  
  
"No, it was Nyssa, and it was good." Dom said, turning in his seat to look at his sister.  
  
"Yea it was great. I can't remember the last time I had such a huge breakfast though." Leon said as he pushed back from the table. Normally they ate whatever Mia could cook before she ran to open the store then head to school where she was a first year business major. Dom was going to let her manage the shop when she was done, giving her a full time job she enjoyed and him more time to run the garage.  
  
The guys all got up to go and do their Sunday things. They all basically hung out and played video games and drank beer all day. Sometimes Dom would go to the garage and work on his Mazda or a customer car they had fallen behind on but mostly they just hung out at home. Jesse and Leon headed into the living room to play some play station on the big TV. Mia started to clean up the kitchen. Nyssa tried to help her since it was Nyssa that made the mess but Mia wouldn't hear of it. She told Nyssa that she had done her a big favour by feeding the guys now so that she wouldn't have to worry about feeding them till the barbeque was ready that she was more the willing to clean up the kitchen. She told Nyssa to take Vince and go for a drive because Vince was starting to look fidgety.  
  
Nyssa laughed. Mia reminded her that she had promised to speak to him about the barbeque and Brian and how she had to let Vince know he could not do that shit anymore, since Dom had never gotten around to it. Nyssa was not looking forward to that talk, but she knew she had to say something. It was downright embarrassing when your date bet up someone else's date over another girl...  
  
She walked over to Vince and asked him if he was ready to head out. He jumped up so fast he nearly knocked Nyssa down. He grabbed her and pulled her to his chest.  
  
"Sorry, I am just so ready to be out of the house for awhile you know?"  
  
"Sure," Nyssa said, but it came out muffled in Vince's shirt. She reached up and put her arms around his neck. "If you promise to be more careful with me in the car then you are of me in the dining room!" She giggled, looking up at him.  
  
"Deal, let's go." They headed out to the car. Vince was confused by his feelings for Nyssa. He was not sure if he was over Mia or not but he was sure into Nyssa. Though she was not scared of him. He guessed Mia wasn't either but most people who got to know him were. He was big, scruffy, and most of the time armed. Nyssa didn't seem intimidated at all. Could he be into both girls at once? Nyssa unlocked the Skyline then gave him the keys and told him to drive there, she wasn't feeling like it.  
  
Vince couldn't imagine not being in the mood to drive this great car. He wondered if she really had the drive to be a racer. If he had a car like this and someone who knew what they were doing to teach him you couldn't have pried the keys out of his fingers unless he was cold and dead. She belted herself in and looked over at Vince. 


	12. Black and White, now with Shades of Grey

Chapter 12 - Black and White, now with shades of gray.  
  
"What's on your mind V?" She asked him. He looked pensive and it was a strange look for Vince. She knew he was not dumb, like Manda told her he was, but he wasn't as complex as some other guys she had known. That didn't make him dumb to her, it made him refreshing. But most things in Vince's world were, how did she put this, she wasn't sure how to think of it even. Well most things in Vince's world either fit or they didn't. She figured she was about the only grey area in his life; most of the rest must be pretty black and white. For instance, if someone picked on a member of his team he would fight them. There would never be a time when he didn't really want to, or wouldn't fight because he thought the other guy could take him. It was just a thing with Vince. If they hurt or insulted a member of Vince's family they would get pounded on. With most people it would be a conscious decision. Like does he deserve the beating? Yes. Can I beat him? I have a chance. Do I want to fight? Yes or no. Can I walk away from this? Yes or no. Then based on what they thought of during that process they would either fight or not. Not Vince. He would just do it because that's how he was.  
  
He was thinking about her. He was wondering about whether she was going to make it on the team or not. She was cool, and funny, and really smart, but she didn't have much drive for learning to race. She was watching him drive. It was kind of unnerving. He answered her question. "You are."  
  
"Well, that can't be good. Why do you look so, well, lost over thinking about me?"  
  
"Because I want you to get on the team and I don't think you ever will if you keep up this attitude toward learning to drive your car."  
  
"What attitude?" She knew she had lots of attitude, just not over driving the car.  
  
"Never wanted to practise. Letting me drive everywhere. If this was my car I wouldn't want to let anyone else drive it ever. I would want to be driving it all the time. You seem happy to let other people drive it for you all the time."  
  
"Vince?"  
  
"Yea?"  
  
"I wanted to drive the car. I just knew you did too. I figure I can drive it at the track all I want and I wanted to let you drive it on the way there cause you looked like you wanted to. Plus I am still not great with it and I don't want anything to happen to us on the public roads. We can practise every day after school. I want to race and I want to make it on the team. But let's face it V, even if I become the best driver on earth there is no guarantee that Dom will ever accept me."  
  
"You only didn't want to drive to the track cause you knew I wanted to? Thanks."  
  
"Don't mention it."  
  
"And I know Dom makes the final decision but if you are a good driver and you have proven your loyalty to the team then he won't say no. If he didn't like you at least some already you wouldn't be staying with us anymore. But you will need to practise more. Especially if you want to be ready for racewars in 4 months time. You need to get good at the track then race in a few small buy in races on race nights to see how you do."  
  
She nodded. They were pretty silent till they arrived at the track. She strapped herself in on the driver's side and started the car. She was doing better this time. She got all the shifts right and also accelerated at a good rate. She was faster today, and more confident. She got up to 120mph too. Again Vince made her stop the car and take off from a dead stop up to 120 then stop and do it again. She did it about 10 times and the amount of time it took her to go from 0 to 120 was getting smaller. She had the shifting down now too.  
  
Vince took over the controls again and did a run with NOS, full race style. She enjoyed the ride but she paid careful attention too. She wanted to learn all she could. She was getting into racing late to begin with and maybe she hadn't been taking it as seriously as she should have been. So after Vince got to do his run instead of letting him drive home she said she wanted to. She told him she had to drive it on the street sometime if she was going to get use to it, and since she would be racing on the street not a track she had better get use to it. Vince agreed with her and was visibly pleased that she took the initiative to decide to do so.  
  
On the way back to the house she told him she thought that they should go get his car and take both cars to Dom's. He agreed and they headed toward her garage. She was nervous about driving the car in the street still and to tell the truth she was scared out of her mind on the freeway. Vince could tell she was trying to be brave about it but she was not having a great time. Maybe he was pushing her too hard. If she were more comfortable driving it on the track she might do better on the street. Well hell, he guessed he would have to take her to a quiet neighbourhood and let her get use to driving it on the street there, not on a busy freeway. He told her to take the next exit. She did and they switched seats.  
  
"I was thinking, we'll take you to a quiet neighbourhood, like around home even, and let you get use to driving on the road there ok. I think you should drive my car home too."  
  
"That sounds perfect Vince." She was visibly relieved.  
  
"You did good though. I could tell you were scared on the freeway." He tugged on her ponytail then fired the car back up and got back on the freeway.  
  
They arrived at her garage and he gave her the keys to his car. She ran in and pulled it out of the garage. He waved at her and took off. She followed him in his car. It was fast too. Not fast like hers but way faster then the mustang her dad had bought her when she turned 16. Her mom had made her leave it behind in the house when they left cause she said it was bought with her dads 'dirty money'. Nyssa knew her dad had broken the law but he had provided for them well. She found she didn't really care how he had made his money. She had missed him while they lived with Ed.  
  
Her dad still owned the big house she had grown up in and she guessed the car was still there really. Now that her mom was gone she could likely have gone back and lived in her dad's house while she waited for him to get out of jail but it would have seemed sad and lonely without her dad and her brother. She had only gone to see her dad once while he was in jail and that had been to tell him about Danny. He hadn't wanted her to see him that way. But she was the one who had to tell him. Her mom wouldn't and Danny had been killed. Her dad had to know. Nyssa had been a child herself and shouldn't have had to be the one to break that news to her dad.  
  
She couldn't hug him to comfort him while he cried over the loss of his son and it had about broken her heart. Most of the time she was able to deal with it in a matter of fact way. There was nothing she could do after all. But on that day it had gotten to her. They wouldn't even let him out long enough to come to the funeral. Her brother had been her protector and mentor ever since she was a little kid.  
  
Vince was a lot like him in a strange way. Her brother had been gruff and quiet. He had loved to work on his car. Vince was a criminal and her brother had been a cop and of course that was different but they still had a lot in common. Her brother had lived in a pretty black and white world too.  
  
Vince was driving pretty fast and in his car she was comfortable keeping up with him. She always had this sense of nervousness when she broke the speed limit like this however. She was always on the lookout for cops. What if she got pulled over? She hardly had any money. She supposed she should tell her dad she forgave him and then see if he could start giving her an allowance again. She laughed.  
  
She had to talk to Vince about his behaviour around Brian before they hit the backyard. They both squealed to a stop in front of the house. She was just about to climb out of the car when Vince opened the door. She thought that was perfect she could grab him now before they got out back just in case Brain was already here. Vince held out his hand to her to help her out of the car. She took it and stood up. She hitched up her pants.  
  
Vince grabbed her waist. He told her she did alright today. Nyssa thanked him and put her arms around his neck.  
  
"Vince?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"We need to talk a second before we go up in the house."  
  
Vince picked her up and carried her around to the back of his car and set her on the trunk, then stood between her legs. "What do we need to talk about little girl?"  
  
"You and your behaviour due to the fact that Brian is going to be here. Did Dom get a chance to speak to you about that?"  
  
"No. And we don't have to either." Vince bit out, looking at the ground. "I know how to behave." Nyssa grabbed his hair and tilted his head back to look him in the eye.  
  
"Yes we do need to talk about it. We can not have a repeat of last night V. Brian is an invited guest of Dom's and for now he is just plain a nice guy. He treats Mia well and she likes him. He hasn't forced her into anything and he treats her well. If you feel this strongly that he is not what he seems then watch him. But you can't fight him or be obviously rude to him either V. You get me?"  
  
"Yes. I get you. But he is hidin somethin. I don't want him to hurt Mia. Can we go eat now? Please."  
  
"Yes, if you promise me that there will not be a fist fight for this one day at least. Please." He nodded. "Does that mean you promise me?" He nodded with an exasperated look on his face. "Are you going to help me down off the car?"  
  
Vince turned around and told her to get on his back. He piggy backed her into the backyard. Everyone but Mia was sitting around the backyard. Vince set her down beside Letty and went over to talk to the boys. He gave Brian a dirty look but he held his temper otherwise.  
  
Letty asked Nyssa if everything was ok between her and Vince now. Nyssa told her it was ok but not perfect. Especially since she had to give him the 'thou shall not mess up the pretty face of Blondie' speech in the driveway. Letty laughed at that and said poor Vince was likely to get it twice since Dom was going to say something to him too. Nyssa said that she was still confused over how she felt about him and she knew he was still confused about how he felt about her. Nyssa asked Letty if everything was ok with her and Dom. Letty told her it was ok but not perfect. And that she was getting sick of Dom picking up skanks, or just rubbing Letty's nose in the fact that he could.  
  
Nyssa nodded and then they heard Mia call them. They went into the house and Mia told them the food was ready and she needed their help to carry it out to the backyard. They all grabbed something and headed out. Mia set up the table then called them all over to eat. Dom sat at the head of the table, Leon at the foot. Letty sat at Dom's right, then Nyssa then Vince, and Mia sat on Dom's left, then Brian, and finally Jesse. They ate after Mia said grace. Nyssa grabbed a Corona and took a big gulp. Vince scowled at her and Brian looked downright horrified. Dom just laughed. He liked Nyssa. He liked her attitude. She was underage after all but Vince was the one who offered her her first beer after all. She pointed that out to him. He gave her a dirty look. They finished eating; Vince and Brian tried to out stare each other over the whole meal. They talked about what to do after they cleaned up and they decided to go to the local drive in theatre after they ate. Nyssa had never been.  
  
Letty and Dom took his car, Brian and Mia took Mia's car, Jesse and Leon took Jesse's car and Nyssa and Vince took Vince's car. They made quite a sight parked in a row near the front. They saw two movies and by the time they got home it was late. Since it was Sunday Nyssa had to get up for school in the morning and Vince had his big job to do tomorrow night. Nyssa didn't know about that. It was a secret. The team was involved in something other then racing. That was why Vince was so concerned about Brian just showing up. The timing was almost too convenient.  
  
They were getting read for bed when Vince told her to go ahead and take his Nissan to school tomorrow if she wanted. She asked if he was sure and he told her it was fine unless she would rather he drove her cause if she would rather get a drive from him then he would take her to school before he went to work at Dom's. She told him she would love to take the car but she was scared something would happen to it. He told her just to be sure she turned on the security system when she got out and it would be fine. She told him that was great and he could feel free to drive her car while she had his. He kissed her good night and they went to sleep.  
  
She woke up the next morning in Vince's arms. It never ceased to amaze her how they could go to sleep on their own sides of the bed and wake up together in the center. She found it hard to believe she had known him all of 5 days too. She untangled herself from Vince and got up. She got ready quickly and stopped to look at Vince asleep in bed. She could never believe how good looking she found him. Most girls went for Dom even though he had a girl. She just didn't see how anyone found Dom better looking then Vince. She guessed she was just into scruffy guys more then bald, muscle bound ones. She kissed Vince softly and let herself out of the house. 


	13. You're not half as smooth as you think

AN: Lucky ch.13 is here. Are you all enjoying this story? Well review it then. Either way. I need reviews. The more I get the faster I put up chapters. This story is like 70,000 words here in my computer. To get those chapters up on the site, all you need to do is review. Not hard. Click a button, type something, submit. Thanks all, I hope you are liking it. On to the chapter. :)  
  
Chapter 13 - You're not as smooth as you thing.  
  
She thanked god she only had a month left as she stopped at Manda's. She figured she would drive her cousin to school for a change. Manda came out of the house just as Nyssa pulled up and rolled down the window.  
  
"Wanna roll with me today Manda?"  
  
"Sure, why are you driving Vince's car?"  
  
"He said I should take his car till I am comfortable driving mine on the street."  
  
"That was nice of him. So are you and he an item or what?"  
  
"Or what I guess. I don't even really know."  
  
"What do you mean you don't even know? Don't you live at his house?"  
  
"Well, yes. But he is still hung up on Mia and we have decided that till he can look at me and say honestly he wants me not Mia with no doubt in his mind we are just friends."  
  
"Well, that's ok anyway cause I don't thing you should date Vince. He is scruffy and not very smart. You can do better then some stupid grease monkey. You should go after Leon. He's a better catch."  
  
"Hey, Vince is not stupid. He is very much like Danny in a lot of ways. I know you didn't think Danny was stupid. Leon is a bigger grease monkey than Vince and I think I'm going to learn to be a mechanic too. Dom wants me to. He says I can work for him if I do. But Vince is scruffy. He is not dirty though. I like the way he always looks like he just woke up."  
  
"Well, whatever. This is a sweet car that's for sure. Have you raced yet?"  
  
"No, I'm far from ready to race. Vince and I practise on the track every day or so. He said he could get Dom to teach me but Dom's not very nice."  
  
"Are you crazy? Dom is the best and he is so perfect looking." Manda was getting all hot and bothered thinking about Dom.  
  
"Manda, he's mean when he gets impatient. And he made Letty cry a few times when he was teaching her to race. Vince has been nothing but patient with me. Plus why are you thinking about Dom that way? They all know you have a crush on him and he is never going to leave Letty."  
  
"What do you mean they all know I have a thing for Dom?"  
  
"Just what I said. You must have told the wrong person or they saw the way you look at him cause even Dom knows. And Letty would beat your face off if you ever went for him. I mean he might sleep with you but as far as girlfriends go he is never leaving Letty anyway and you deserve better. If you think Leon is cute you could go after him but I would advise you to forget Dominic."  
  
"Shit. I didn't think I was that obvious. I guess you're right though. I don't want to mess with Letty."  
  
They pulled up to school and parked the car. The climbed out and there were people all over them right away. Asking where Nyssa got the car and whose it was. Looking at it and ohing and ahing over it. Nyssa said it was her boyfriend's, so what if he wasn't, yet, if she had her way he would be, and that he was a huge guy. She asked if they had heard of Dom Torreto and almost everyone said yes. She told them her boyfriend Vince raced on Dom's team and they were like brothers. Her popularity went up just because she knew Dom and his team. People wanted to know tech specs on the car. She told them she didn't know because well, she didn't and she didn't think Vince would want people to know about his car.  
  
The bell rang and they all started in to class. Nyssa remembered to arm the car's security at the last second and she clicked it on. The car chirped and flashed its lights and they headed into class. Nyssa and Manda talked about the fact that she lived with Vince even though they were not dating. Nyssa told her it was better then worrying what Ed would do to her at his house and that at least if her and Vince hooked up she would be a willing participant. Manda said that her dad was mad Nyssa didn't come live with them because he had promised Mark he would watch out for her while he was in jail. Nyssa promised to go talk to Uncle John soon and explain how things had happened so fast and how if Vince had not come in when he did Nyssa would have been in trouble in the house.  
  
When they got to their first class there were two police officers inside talking to the teacher. The teacher pointed at her and Manda and they heard him say that's her. They didn't know which one of them he was pointing at. The officers walked over to the two girls and asked which one was Nyssa Williams. Nyssa identified herself and they asked her to come with them to an empty class. Since one was a female officer she said it was fine if the door was left open. She knew she didn't have to answer anything without a lawyer present but since she had no idea what this could be about she went along with them. Since she had done nothing wrong she didn't want to look guilty by refusing to talk to them. She better find out what this was about first.  
  
They walked into the empty class and the officers sat down and asked her to do the same. She took a seat close to them but not right beside. She asked them what this was about. They told her that her step father had reported her as being a runaway. Nyssa laughed and told them that was funny. They asked why that was so funny. Nyssa told them that well, one how many runaways went to school, and two, he had tried to assault her and that most kids that ran away didn't find all their shit in boxes on the lawn when they came home from school. The two officers looked at each other. They asked her if she did in fact have all her stuff from his house. She told them yes. That she had come home from school on Friday to find all her stuff packed up in boxes on the lawn and the only reason why Ed cared now was because he realized she owned a valuable car and he wanted to get his hands on it to sell it. Plus she was 19, old enough to move out if she wanted, and she had a real father who was in jail.  
  
The officers asked her about the guy she left with. The tall man with the tattoos. They said Ed was very concerned that the man was a pimp or a drug dealer. Nyssa laughed again and told them he was a mechanic at a local garage and that he had just given her a place to stay while she had no where when Ed put her out and that he was certainly not a pimp or a drug dealer. Nyssa had wondered if he was a drug dealer at times but she knew he was not a pimp. The thought of Vince as a pimp made her laugh again. The officers had been informed she was only 17 by dear old Ed. There was nothing they could do about her not living with him anymore at this point. Then they looked at each other. That blue car in the student lot had looked like one of Torreto's team mate's cars. They knew all of those guys were too old for high school. Maybe the girls new room mate was one of the Toretto racers. They all had tattoos and it had looked like one of their cars.  
  
They asked her if she had this car of hers with her today. She told them no, she had her friends car here today while he did some work to hers at his garage. They asked his name. She told them Vince. The officers looked at each other. Vince was a well known member of Dom's team. He was the enforcer for one thing. He watched Dom's back in fights etc. They asked if she was sure that she hadn't seen anything illegal at Dom's house. She told them she was quite sure unless partying was illegal now. They told her no and thanked her for her time. She headed back to class and sat down.  
  
At the break Manda had to know all about it so she told her. Then she dug in her pockets for a quarter and called Vince on his cell phone.  
  
"Hey V."  
  
"Nyssa, how's school going babe?"  
  
"Shitty. Ed called the cops and told them I was only 17 and a run away. And that you kidnapped me."  
  
"Aw shit, are you downtown?" Vince hated the cops and the police station but he would go get her if he had to.  
  
"No, once I told them I was 19 and that I hadn't run away or been kidnapped that he kicked me out and only wanted me back for my car they were fine with it and said they couldn't do anything about it if they wanted too."  
  
"Well that's good. Were you scared?"  
  
"Not about that I know my rights and if I didn't want to talk I would have insisted on calling my lawyer, but Vince, they recognized your car in the lot and asked me if I was staying with you. I said yes because I didn't know if I should lie or not you know? And then they asked me stuff about you. Like if I though you were a drug dealer or stuff."  
  
"Or stuff? What did you tell them?"  
  
"I told them you were a mechanic at a friend's garage and that was all I knew."  
  
"What was or stuff? Nyssa you are a shitty liar so you better tell me."  
  
"Well they asked me if you were a pimp or dealing."  
  
Vince laughed. "They thought I was a pimp?"  
  
"Ya I laughed too. I thought that was funny. I told them all I knew was that you worked at your friend's garage and that I knew you were not a pimp or a drug dealer."  
  
"Well thanks. But I could be a pimp you know. I could get enough girls to be a pimp. Nothing says that I couldn't." Vince chuckled. "Did they ask you anything else?"  
  
"Just if I ever saw illegal stuff happen at your place. So I told them not unless partying counted and they said no. That was really the end of it. I am sorry that I even told them I knew you. But they know your car pretty well."  
  
"Don't worry about it. The truth is always the best answer unless you really need to lie. It keeps you looking honest. And ya they all know my car pretty well. No sense lying about that."  
  
"Ok V as long as you are not mad at me."  
  
"No, just finish your day and come home Nys, and we will do a little driving around the neighbourhood and then get some dinner ok?"  
  
"Sounds so good Vince. See you around 4:00 or so ok? I have to drive Manda home."  
  
"Ok, see you then."  
  
Vince hung up and turned around to see all the guys staring at him.  
  
"What's wrong with Nyssa?" Dom asked.  
  
Vince gave them a run down of what had happened and how Nyssa had handled it. Dom was pleased. Nyssa had told them all the right things and had lied when she had too about what she had seen in the house. She would have seen underage drinking, some drug use and of course street racing, but she didn't tell them about any of it. She must have a cool head on her shoulders. Dom went back to the car he was working on.  
  
Vince and Leon were talking about the same thing. How well Nyssa had kept her cool and protected their backs. It was just what one of them would have done. Protect the team at all costs. Leon asked if Vince was starting to fall for Nyssa. Vince still wasn't sure and told his friend that. Leon nodded and told Vince that he thought he was nuts if he didn't go for her but that if Vince decided he didn't want her Leon would like a chance with her. Vince growled at Leon and Leon laughed and told Vince he may as well admit to himself he wanted Nyssa now and save himself the effort later. Vince told Leon to go to hell and they started back on the car they were working on.  
  
Nyssa showed up home at 4:10. She ran in the house and called out for Vince. She knew he was home because her car was home. He answered her back from downstairs. She went down looking for him in the living room then his room and finally the bathroom when he was not in either of the first two places. He had his hand under running water and there was blood everywhere. She asked him what he had done. He told her he had been cutting wires and the knife slipped. She yelled at him for cutting wire with a knife not wire cutters or pliers. She took his hand out from under the water and looked at it. It was not deep enough for stitches she didn't think. She had him stick it back under the water and looked around. She found the alcohol and a bandage and turned off the water. She made him sit down on the tub and held his hand over the tub.  
  
"This is going to hurt like hell baby." She told him. He nodded and she flooded the cut with the alcohol. His breath hissed between his teeth. She set the alcohol down and rapped his hand in the bandage she had been able to find. She wrapped it up tight to try to stop the bleeding. She told him he should be ok without stitches but she thought driving was out for a while. He told her he would be fine in an hour or so. As soon as it hardened. He was sitting on the side of the tub still and she was standing in front of him. He asked her how the rest of her day went, looking deep in her eyes. She told him boring, staring back. He stood up. She didn't back off. He slowly leaned down and kissed her. Her careful care of him had touched him.  
  
She kissed him back. She always did. Vince guessed he knew she was into him for awhile now. He was running his good hand up her back and she was running her hands up and down his back too. He stopped kissing her mouth and started down her neck. She tilled her head to give him easier access. He found the sensitive spot where her neck and shoulder met and bit her. She moaned. He kissed her on the mouth again and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.  
  
Jesse walked into the bathroom and saw Vince and Nyssa kissing. He stuttered out an apology and walked out. Nyssa turned red and burrowed her face into Vince's chest. Vince laughed and she felt the vibrations of it rumble in his big chest. Nyssa told him she didn't find it all that funny. Vince had seen the look on Jesse's poor face however which had been a site to see. Vince thanked her for taking his mind off his hand. She looked at his hand and was pleased to see the bandage was not even red so the bleeding had stopped. He tried to get her to go back to his room with him and she refused. She told him it was time to go for a drive and he groaned at her.  
  
She reminded him he was the one who said she didn't practise enough and laughed at him. He told her that one day off while he was injured would not kill her. She said that she wanted to go practise. He said he wanted to show her something in his room. She told him he was not half as smooth as he thought. She won and they took his car for a run. She didn't know why but he wanted her to drive his car. So they did and she did well with it at the track. It wasn't as fast as her car but it wasn't as touchy in the shifting department either. She told Vince she wanted that tint he promised her so she would feel safer driving her car. Vince promised to get on that soon.  
  
They drove around for an hour and then headed home. They ate supper and Nyssa and Mia went up to Mia's room to do homework. The guys and Letty talked about the job they had to do tonight. Dom asked if Vince had thought about what he was going to tell Nyssa if she woke up when he left in the middle of the night. Vince said yes, he was going to tell her he couldn't sleep and was going for a drive. Dom nodded, that made sense. The team went and watched some TV. Nyssa came down around 10 and watched some TV. She told Vince she was going to bed around 11. He told her good night and she went to bed. About half an hour later they all went to bed because they had to get up at 4 to go and do a job. 


	14. Stubborn Man

Chapter 14 - Stubborn Man.  
  
They had been hijacking trucks with high priced merchandise for about 3 months now. This would be the fourth job for them and because of it they all had a lot of money in the bank. It was easy money too. They had a contact at the shippers who told them what truck and when and where. He got what was really a small share of the money then the team split the rest 5 ways. Dom, Letty, Leon, Jesse and Vince. Dom and Vince took one car and it was their job to get in front of the truck. Then Vince used a spear gun to pop out the window of the truck, then another one to repel up to the cab. Once there he put the drive out with a tranquilizer dart and drove the truck. Leon and Jesse ran inference and manned the scanner and Letty also ran interference to keep the truck going their way. Each job netted them about 2 million split 5 ways. Letty wanted to stop. She said they had enough for a lifetime of easy living now. The guys got off on the rush and the money. There was a big one on the horizon and getting Dom to stop before then was just not going to happen.  
  
They drove 3 Honda Civics for the jobs. Dom kept them stashed outside of Thermal. Mia knew he was up to something. She was a smart girl and might even have figured out what by now. She knew about the Civics. Dom was concerned by times she might tell Brian something about it. He liked Brian but he didn't trust him yet. He knew Vince had never told Nyssa anything. The day would come when she would have to know but till her and Vince were officially a couple she didn't need to know.  
  
He was proud of the way his Letty could drive. She was the most daring driver among them for sure. She pulled stunts that the guys wouldn't dream of. Like driving under the trailers of the trucks when she had to.  
  
Vince went to bed and set his alarm. He hoped the alarm didn't wake Nyssa. He was quick at turning it off so it should be ok. He went to sleep. The alarm went off and he turned it off right away. Nyssa made a murmur but she didn't wake up. He slid out of bed and put on the outfit he wore for this. Blue jeans and a black tee shirt with a black mesh tank top over it. His flack jacket and repelling gear were stashed in the civics along with the spear gun. He looked down at Nyssa sleeping in his bed and hoped everything went well with more feeling this time. He didn't want to think of what would happen to her if he never came home.  
  
Would the team still accept her? Would Dom or Leon get to finish teaching her to drive her car? Would she get over him and fall for Leon or Jesse? He didn't want to think about it. He quietly let himself out of the room and the team took off. He hoped to be back in bed by 7am, long before her alarm went off. They drove to their cars and headed after the truck in the darkness. Vince's hand hurt like hell but he didn't want to tell anyone in case they thought he could not do his job.  
  
Nyssa woke up and looked at the clock. It was only 5 am. She had no idea why she was awake. She realized she was all alone in the room. Where the hell was Vince? She always had to go to the bathroom when she woke up or she couldn't go back to sleep. She wandered to the bathroom and on the way she saw that Jesse's door was cracked open. She could swear his bed looked empty but she didn't want to be nosy in case he was in there so she just used the bathroom and headed back to bed. She was sure Vince would have a good reason for being missing at 5am. She fell back asleep quickly and deeply.  
  
When the alarm went off at 7:15am, Vince shut it off like he always did. She was awake this time though; he didn't have to wake her up like he normally did. If it pissed him off to wake up this early every day even though he didn't have to, he never let on to her. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and went and took her morning shower. She came back and just got dressed. She was pretty well beyond caring if Vince watched her or not. She always took clean underwear to the bathroom with her so it was not like he ever saw her naked or anything. She picked out an outfit and started to get ready. When she was ready she sat on the bed beside him.  
  
"You go back to sleep V?" She asked softly.  
  
"Not yet." He said in that deep, gravely, I'm so not awake, morning voice she loved.  
  
"So am I to take it that I am taking your car to school again today?"  
  
"Sure, I'm gonna sleep in today."  
  
"Where were you last night baby?"  
  
"Couldn't sleep so I went for a drive from about 4:30-6:00am. Some times I just can't sleep. But I am tired out now."  
  
"Oh, poor baby. You sleep now and I'll see you this afternoon. Just let me see that hand before I go."  
  
He showed her and there was some blood on the bandage now. She told him that he should have watched TV instead of going for a drive because he opened the cut some. He grunted. She laughed softly at his expressive nature, and kissed his forehead then his hand and stood up. He mumbled good bye and she let herself out.  
  
Dom was sitting at the kitchen table. He could never go back to sleep after a job. No matter what he did. Letty was sleeping like a baby upstairs. Dom asked her where Vince was and she told him he was not feeling well and hadn't slept last night so he was staying in bed for the morning. Dom asked what was wrong. Nyssa told Dom about the cut and told him she hoped it was not infected even though she had washed it well for him and that Dom might want to remind him to use more alcohol if he saw him later. Dom nodded. He asked if Nyssa needed a ride to school. She told him she was taking Vince's car again, Vince told her to and he had the keys to her car to use. Dom nodded again. She said bye and headed out.  
  
Dom liked that she worried about Vince. Lord knew Vince hadn't even mentioned he had cut himself let alone that it was that bad. Dom was glad the job went off without a hitch, since Vince was kind of the most important player. Vince would never admit he was sick or injured. The time he had been hurt as a kid he kept saying it was fine then it turned out he had a broken wrist. He was always the tough guy. Nyssa hit McDonald's for breakfast on her way to school. She almost turned the car around and went back to bed with Vince but she reminded herself less then a month and she was done. Then she had nothing to do all day but drive her car and Dom was going to put her to work part time in the garage as an errant girl and working the desk. Booking appointments and answering the phone. She was cool with that. She hoped Vince was ok with it though. They spent a lot of time together as it was and she didn't know if he would be all that thrilled that he would now be working with her too.  
  
She was listening to the local radio station when the news came on. She figured she was a bit out of touch and turned the news up. The story of the day a daring robbery of a transport truck. It seemed that three Honda Civics had swarmed the driver, knocked him out and hijacked the truck. They took the truck somewhere and unloaded the cargo onto what police assumed was their own truck and when the driver came too he was left with his truck in a strange place with no cargo. It was the fourth such robbery in the last few months and it was the same group of people for sure. Same precision driving and black Civics with green underbody neon kits.  
  
In that second Nyssa knew it was Vince and his team. It had happened last night right in the time Vince claimed he couldn't sleep. Wow, that was crazy. Not that she really cared when she thought about it. She had known Vince was some sort of criminal but nothing like this. But she couldn't let on she knew or Dom might think that Vince had told her and get angry with him and maybe even kick her out. Now she knew why Vince was so worried that Brian was a cop.  
  
She decided to go visit her dad that evening and tell him what happened in reguards to her living situation. As far as he knew she still lived with Ed. She missed him and she figured he should know where his only child was living. Plus she had a few favours to ask him.  
  
She got to school and ran into class. Manda was already there. She sat down just under the late bell. The morning classes seemed to fly by. She and Manda decided to take Vince's car out to lunch. They took two other girls with them and hit the Wendy's that was close to the school. They laughed and talked girl stuff over lunch and the other two girls Marie and Kelly, had to know all about Vince since he had such a nice car and he let Nyssa borrow it. Nyssa said he was awesome and so good looking, and very nice. Manda rolled her eyes.  
  
They got back to school and Nyssa groaned. There was Ed, waiting by the door to the school. She turned to get back in the car and just bounce but she really didn't want to miss school. She asked Manda to stick around as Ed walked up.  
  
"Hello Nyssandre."  
  
"It's Nyssa, you ass, and what do you want."  
  
"I just want to tell you that you can move home if you want. I miss you."  
  
"Sure you do. You just want to try to get your hands on my car."  
  
"That's not true. Where is your car? This is not the car you told me was yours."  
  
"No, it's not. It belongs to my friend Vince. You know him. The guy you were so scared of you nearly shit your pants when he just looked at you. The guy you told the cops was a pimp and a drug dealer, and that he kidnapped you poor underage step daughter."  
  
"Well I was just worried."  
  
"No need Ed. I am happy and safe with Dom and his family."  
  
"I thought the guy was Vince."  
  
"He is. I live with his friend Dom and Dom's sister. And well Dom's girlfriend and Vince and Leon and Jesse. So don't start shit. There are always big guys around to look out for me. And Letty would kick your ass. Plus I am going to see daddy tonight and tell him all about what you did."  
  
"You bitch." Ed made a move to hit her.  
  
"Ah ah ah Ed. I have a witness and I will send Vince after you."  
  
"You win this time but you better watch your back."  
  
Nyssa only laughed.  
  
"That guy is creepy." Manda said.  
  
"You got that right. Let's get to class before we are late again." Nyssa armed the car and they headed in to class.  
  
After school she headed back to Dom's and straight down the stairs to what she was fast thinking of as 'their' room. She found Vince still in bed. She crawled across her side and peered down at him. He looked like he was asleep. She put a hand on his forehead and he felt overly warm. She shook him by the shoulder. "Vince." He didn't respond. "Vince. Baby. Vince sweetie, wake up." He looked up at her and his eyes looked kind of glassy. "You ok baby? You don't look good."  
  
"I don't feel good either Nys. My head hurts and I am so hot."  
  
She peeled the covers off him and he had all his clothes on, shirt, jeans, etc. She asked him how he came to be fully clothed in bed and he told her he tried to get up that afternoon and it just hadn't worked out that way. She peeled the cloths off him and checked his hand. It was definitely infected. Damn. She might have to try to get him dressed again and take him to the hospital. "Well babe, your hand is infected. You need to see a doctor and get put on antibiotics for it."  
  
"No way, no doctors." He barely croaked out.  
  
"Vince, you are burning up, the cut looks awful and you are a total space cadet. You need to go to the hospital."  
  
"No, I hate the hospital. I won't go."  
  
"Yes you will. I am going to try to get your fever down first but if you are still this feverish and out of it in 30 minutes that's it. I get Dom to help me get you to the car then we go."  
  
"No." He said but it came out as a deep moan. He was really out of it and in pain. She shook her head. Stubborn man. He overdid it with the injury then got mad when he got sick. She got a bowl of ice water and a cloth and wiped him down with the cold water. The fever never came down but the chills set in. She knew then that he had to go to the hospital or he was in danger of ending up really sick. She ran upstairs looking for Dom or Leon. She found Dom.  
  
"Dom did you check on Vince at all today?"  
  
"No, I just figured he was tired. Why?"  
  
"Cause he is really sick and we need to take him to the hospital I think. He has a bad fever and I can't get it down and now he has chills. He is hardly coherent and I don't think he can get to the car on his own and I can't move him for sure. I need your help to move him to the car then I will take him to the hospital."  
  
"Come on, I'll come with you."  
  
She was glad for the company. Dom was shocked to see the state Vince was in. He had thought Nyssa was over reacting but she wasn't. Vince was burning up. Dom helped her put a clean tank and jeans on him and they started up to the car. On the way up the stairs Vince was still protesting that he did not want to go. They told him too bad. They took Vince's car cause it still had a full back seat. She got in the back with Vince and Dom drove. He drove at the speed of light but they never saw a cop anywhere. 


	15. I wanna go Home!

Chapter 15 - I wanna go Home!  
  
They arrived at the hospital and Vince was admitted right away. He was put on an IV of antibiotic and they cleaned the cut. They decided to stitch it while he was here because it was so deep and plus if it was closed it shouldn't get infected again. The nurse left Nyssa to try to cool Vince off with cool cloths since it was obvious she was not leaving his side. Vince woke up with a lucid look on his face for the first time all day after he had been out of it in the hospital for about 2 hours.  
  
"Where am I Nys? I don't know where I am."  
  
"We had to take you to the hospital. You had a nasty infection in your hand and it gave you one hell of a fever. We couldn't wake you up at home when I got home from school and we brought you here. You don't remember fighting with me about how much you hated the hospital?"  
  
"No, I don't remember the drive here either. How did you get me to the car if I was unconscious?"  
  
"Oh shit, Dom. Speaking of which, he is still waiting outside. Dom helped me get you up the stairs and he drove here. I should tell him you're awake. He feels bad that he didn't check on you when you never got up." She went into the hall and told Dom he could come in now because Vince was awake and ok.  
  
Dom came in and did the typical 'man, I knew it was nothing act'. The doctor came in. Vince asked when he could leave. The doctor told him the next day. Vince said no way was he staying there over night. The doctor told him it was standard procedure to keep someone with that amount of infection overnight for observation. Vince said no way. Dom gave Vince a dirty look. Nyssa had dealt with this same sort of thing when Danny was shot the first time. Danny had been happier at home. She figured Vince would be the same way. She interjected.  
  
"Can't he go home if we promise to keep him quiet in bed for the rest of the night? You really don't want him here, harassing everyone and being a general pain in the butt. And he will be a pain, I'll tell ya. I took care of my brother through an infection following a gun shot wound so this would be a piece of cake."  
  
"Is this your brother young lady?"  
  
"No, this is not my brother. My brother passed away in the line of duty after he was shot again. Only he died instantly that time. But I can take care of Vince and make sure he takes it easy and takes his pills. He'll never stay here. Better to release him to me and Dom so we can make sure he goes straight back to bed. If not he will just end up either taking off on you or harassing your staff."  
  
"Well.." It was most unusual but the man did look like he would be a terrible patient.  
  
"Hello. I am an adult and I think I have a say in this. I wanna go home." Vince did not appreciate being talked about like he did not exist.  
  
"Fine, we will send him home in the care of the two of you. Keep him quiet for the evening and don't let him strain his hand at all. Plus he has to take these pills three times a day for the next seven days." Nyssa took the pills and the nurse came and unhooked Vince. He got up and Dom left so he could get dressed. Nyssa stayed.  
  
"You sure are difficult you know that?"  
  
"I hate the hospital. I want to go home."  
  
"Well you get your wish. Danny hated it here too. I always got him out early and took care of him at home."  
  
"You must miss him huh?"  
  
"Lots. But it gets easier with time. Besides I didn't want to have to sleep in the basement without you. I would get scared and end up staying with Leon. I don't want you in a fist fight with Leon with that bad hand." She giggled.  
  
Vince growled and grabbed her. He had his jeans back on but no shirt. He pulled her against him. "You don't belong in any bed but mine." He kissed her and she responded like she always did to him. Instant and primal. She broke it off this time.  
  
"Let's get out of here V." He finished dressing and they left. Dom would not let him drive as per the doctor's orders. Nyssa climbed in the back and assumed Vince would take the other front seat. She was wrong. He crawled in the back with her and lay down across the seat with his head in her lap. He was still tired even if he didn't want to stay in the hospital. She played with his hair while she stared out the window. They were home before she knew it. It was only 6pm. They helped Vince into the house and put him to bed.  
  
Nyssa tucked him in then lay on top of him, on top of the covers. She told him she was going to see her dad for awhile and that she would be back around 9pm. And that she was not going to school the next day, she was staying home to take care of him. He smiled at her. It was nice to be taken care of for a change. She changed into the girliest outfit he had ever seen her wear. It was a long skirt with dragons on it. It kind of wrapped around her and tied at the waist. She put on a white tee shirt with a red dragon on the front and strappy sandals that tied up her legs. She put on silver hoop earrings and put up her hair in a messy bun. She looked awesome.  
  
"Sure you have to leave? You should stay here and let me unwrap you."  
  
"You need to sleep and I need to do this. I'll see you soon."  
  
She leaned over and kissed him goodbye then left. She took his car up to Lompoc.  
  
She went in and went through all of the security checks. This time her dad was brought into a small room with a table and two chairs. They embraced and Mark cried.  
  
"Nyssandre. You are so pretty. You have grown so much. And you are thinner then the last time I saw you. You look great."  
  
"I missed you so much Daddy. I know you told me not to come here but so much has happened I need to talk to you about it."  
  
"Of course sweetie. What's on your mind."  
  
She told him all about Ed and what he did. And how Vince came to her rescue. Her dad was livid. Ed was going to find himself in hot water. Mark had all kinds of ties outside of jail. Her dad wanted to know all about Vince. Nyssa started by asking if he remembered Dominic Torreto. Mark said he did. She asked if he remembered the tall, shaggy guy who use to come visit Dom. Mark did. She told her dad that was Vince. He was not overly thrilled to know she lived with Dom and Vince. She made sure he knew that Dom's sister and girlfriend lived there too and she left out the sharing a room with Vince part. She told him that Vince was teaching her to drive Danny's race car and she was going to make her career ambition mechanics. Dom already promised her a job.  
  
Her dad wanted to know if she was street racing. She told him no, but he saw the answer not yet in her eyes. He didn't look impressed. She asked if her 'stang was still at the old house. Her dad told her yes. Then he told her to move back to the old house so she wouldn't have to live at Torreto's. She told him she wouldn't live there alone.  
  
She told him that her mom had run off. Mark said he had heard. She asked if she could have the 'stang to drive so she could stop borrowing poor Vince's car all the time. He told her that her Uncle Steve had all the keys. Steve was really a family friend not an uncle but he had known her dad since the second grade.  
  
She embarrassingly asked her dad if he could give her an allowance till she started working for Dom that summer. He told her quietly that he had a lot of money the US government and law had not found and Steve knew how to get it. She could have whatever she needed. And Steve still had her credit cards and she was more then welcome to use them too. He told her there was no reason for her to ruin her summer working in a hot garage. She wanted to do it she told him, and besides that the whole team would be working there or the café all summer anyway so what would she do, sit home alone?  
  
She gave her dad the number at Dom's and told him she wouldn't come again if it bothered him. Mark told her not to come too often but he would like to see her every once in awhile because while he didn't want her to see him like this he missed her too much to tell her not to come. They hugged good bye just as the guard came and told them it was time for her to go.  
  
She left and called Steve right away. He met her at Dom's and she left the Nissan there. Steve gave her bank account numbers, her two charge cards, the keys to the house and the 'stang. He drove her to the house and they went into the garage. Her baby started right up. It was a '67 mustang convertible. Candy apple red. It was pure stock though. It was in show car shape but not meant for racing. She thanked Steve and headed home to Vince.  
  
He was in bed but reading not sleeping when she got home. He asked her how it went. She told him great and asked if he was up to a trip to the driveway. He told her sure. They went up to the drive and she showed him the mustang.  
  
He had to know where it came from. She told him the story and what happened while she visited her dad. She told him it had been a 16th birthday gift and it had been a year or more since she had seen it and just figured that the house and the contents of it would have been confinscated at first, and when she found out they had been in her mom's name at first and now were in fact in Nyssa's name she had just never gone to get it. She told him she didn't want to monopolize his car all the time so she went and got it. They headed back down to Vince's room and he crawled back in bed.  
  
"You still feeling weak baby?" She asked.  
  
"No, of course not." Came the answer but she could tell he was fibbing.  
  
"I'm tired out myself. Glad I am not getting up for school tomorrow. She started to change into her night dress. It was one she wore when it was hot outside. Spaghetti straps and a silky material. She slid into bed. "See you in the morning V." She lay on her back and next thing she knew he was looming over her.  
  
"Not going to bed without your good night kiss are you?"  
  
"Well I thought you would be tired."  
  
"I am never too tired for kissing you." She held her arms open and he leaned in and kissed her. He kissed her eyelids and the tip of her nose after her mouth. "Thanks for standing up for me and making sure I got to come home. I get fucked up in hospitals."  
  
"I could tell. My bro hated them too and I always did take him home and take care of him."  
  
"How did it go with your dad? Was he mad that you went to see him even though he told you not to? Dom said the same thing but he was always secretly happy when we visited him anyway."  
  
"Yea, he was happy. He's going to give me my allowance till I get out of school and get a job. He wants me to visit him again, just not all the time. And he wants to meet you." She giggled.  
  
"Really? He wants to meet me?"  
  
"Yea he does. Now go to sleep."  
  
"Only if you sleep over here with me." She rolled over and put her head on his shoulder. He had never instigated contact like that before. Normally they just ended up together over night. She thought that they might just be making progress here. She went to sleep with a smile on her face. Of course the fact that she wasn't getting up early the next day was also nice. 


	16. Tired of the Drama

Chapter 16 - So tired of the Drama  
  
AN: Hey all. Boy am I glad that the fanfiction.net not taking uploads thing is fixed. I wanted to just answer a question that Xandra asked. Yes Nyssa had to tell her dad that her brother was killed. There was no one else. I'm to damn lazy to find the quote for that but the gyst of it is that she had to tell him because her mother was long gone so there was no one else to do it. Her dad was devastated as most parents would be over the lost of any of their children. Since there was nothing he could do about it at the time Nyssa had to stay with the step dad from hell. She tells me she's glad I gave her Vince *Wink* But there are more suprises in store for her in later chapters needless to say. Now on with the story.  
  
When she woke up the next day Vince was snoring away on his back and it was already 11 am. She stretched and then sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She walked out of the room and went to the bathroom. She wandered back to the bedroom and then though about whether she wanted to go back to bed or get dressed and take her 'stang down to Jesse cause it had to be all tuned up, and all the fluids changed, and maybe even new hoses etc. She then had to get it inspected. Oh wait, she remembered, Dom does that too. Sweet. She started rummaging for clothes. It was really time to do laundry. She pulled on a black thong and a pair of hipster blue jeans. She put on the matching black bra and then realized she had no clean tops. She opened Vince's drawer and stole a black mesh tank top out of it and pulled it on. It was baggy but the mesh was fine and you could just see her bra showing through. Just the right look she thought.  
  
"Hey, is it nice to steal my clothes without asking?" Vince had watched her dress. She woke him up getting out of bed.  
  
"No, but I need to do laundry or go shopping cause all my stuff is dirty. So I had to wear something."  
  
"You can borrow a whole shirt you know. You don't need to go around with your underwear showing on my account."  
  
"You're funny. I gotta take the 'stang down to the garage. It has not had an oil change or anything in over a year."  
  
"You gotta be kidden me."  
  
"Nope. I didn't know it was still there till I talked to daddy. So I am taking her down to Jesse this morning. Then I'm doing laundry." She wrinked her nose. She hated doing laundry.  
  
"Well, wait a minute and I'll come with you."  
  
"No way. You need to stay in bed and take it easy."  
  
"I can take it easy while you drive. I'm going and if you don't let me go with you I will just go in my own car. Only that means I need to drive myself."  
  
"That's dirty." He gave her one of those looks. "But fine, get ready."  
  
Vince got dressed and they headed out. She got in the car and started it. Once Vince was in she put the top down. It was a beautiful sunny day. The garage was only about 5 minutes away from the house. But she didn't head right there. Vince asked were they were going. She told him to see Mia and get some lunch. Vince was hungry since he really didn't get to eat yesterday. Mia made them sandwiches and as they were eating Brian showed up.  
  
Vince had turkey and Nyssa had ham. Brian ordered the tuna. Again. Vince was going to start shit with him again. Nyssa could tell. And Dom wasn't even here today, he was at the garage. Nyssa looked at Mia and it was obvious that Mia had thought of what would happen if the two men did in fact fight again wile Dom was not here to break it up... Brian had held his own the last time and Vince was not even fully recovered from his cut yet. Just as he turned to go at Brian Nyssa finished her sandwich.  
  
"That was great Mia, thanks but we gotta go now. Don't we V, V, baby, hello? You in there?" She knocked on his head; he gave her the dirtiest look. "Dom is waiting for us after all." Nyssa put a hand on his arm and took his hand. "This looks much better already V. Would hate to see you pull a stitch out." Vince brought his other hand up behind her head and gently grabbed her ponytail and tipped her head back. He looked in her eyes and she knew he knew why she said that. He was not happy that she reminded him of his weakness, even if it was just temporary. He let go of her hair and she stood up and looked down at him. She leaned over and pressed her forehead against Vince's. "You ready Vince?"  
  
"Yea, I'm ready. Let's go see Dom." He stood up and with his arms locked under her butt picked her up so her forehead and his stayed pressed together. Just to prove he wasn't weak. She kissed him and he set her down, looking embarrassed to be kissed in front of Mia and Brian.  
  
Just then Mia saw the red car. "Who owns the red Mustang?"  
  
"I do." Nyssa stated. "My dad bought her for me on my 16th but my mom made me leave her behind when my dad went to jail and my mom decided she couldn't live with the fact that everything he ever bought us was likely bought with his 'dirty money'. I on the other hand could not care less so when I found out he never got anyone to sell the house and everything was just how we left it I went and go her so that I would not always be stealing V's car to run to school."  
  
Brian could not help it. He asked her "You're still in school? Where do you go?"  
  
"I go to Mission Street high."  
  
"You're only in high school? How old are you?" Brian was worried she was underage and he knew Vince had to be 24 or so. If the girl was only 17 that would make for statutory rape against Vince.  
  
"I'm 19, I know I should be done of school but I was held back the year my older brother died."  
  
"Oh ok. Didn't want to be nosy but you seem way too mature to be a high school student."  
  
"Thanks Brian. That's nice to hear. Well we really do have to jet. See you two later."  
  
They got in the car and Vince bitched about Brian the whole way to the garage. Nyssa told Vince he really had to get over it since it seemed that Brian was here to stay. Vince was like 'over my dead body.' Nyssa told him he might not want to say that too loud in case thunder rolled in.  
  
They arrived at DT around 12pm and she just pulled the car in. Jesse and Letty walked over and asked where she had gotten that. She told them where the car had come from and why it was here. Jesse popped the hood and started to have a look. Dom came out of the office and asked the same thing, where had the car come from. Vince told him. Dom looked Vince over and was happy to see he looked much better today. Vince told him that Brian was hanging around the store again. Dom said he wasn't surprised and he thought Mia was likely going to make an exception to her rule of not dating Dom's friends over Brian. Vince scowled at Dom over that.  
  
"Vince, you gotta get over Mia and move on Man. You have Nyssa now. She's one down ass girl. She's gonna fit right in once you get her ready to race. Unless of course you don't want her to? Maybe you want her to stay domestic and take care of the house and you huh? But look at her and Letty. How close those two are already is scaring me. You know how Letty is normaly slow to warm up to new people, but the two of them are so close already and you know they love to start shit."  
  
"I am over Mia but damn Dawg, I put in the wrench time with Mia for 5 years and the fact that she fell for Spilner so quick is a blow you know? I'm not sure about me and Nyssa. I think I want her but I owe it to both of us to be sure this time. If she was a skank it would be different." Vince laughed. "Will you listen to me? When did I go soft? Why do I have to be sure? The old Vince wouldn't need to be sure. He would just take what he wanted. Even you still take what you want, if you get me."  
  
"Ya and someday I'm gonna lose her over it. Be sure. I wanna stop doing that to her but it just never works out that way. Look at her Vince. She's my life and I'm gonna fuck that up and lose her over some skank I just couldn't say no to." Dom was looking at Letty, who was laughing with Nyssa over something Jesse said. The two dark beauties were watching Jesse drain the coolant. It was a slow day and he decided to just flush out everything. Dom continued. "Be sure you are ready for a relationship before you start one Man or you'll regret it. Listen to both of us, all deep an shit. Maybe we're both goin soft." They both laughed at that. Each was the only one the other could say this stuff to. They had been like brothers for so long that the sometimes felt able to drop the tough guy exteriors for a few minutes and talk about things they were not supposed to care about like feelings.  
  
Jesse was telling Nyssa about all the stuff he could do to the car to make it faster. She laughed at his exuberance. She was telling Jesse how many awards the car had won for being a perfectly restored mustang and that she didn't want to race it. Jesse obviously didn't get it. She laughed at the look on his face; he was confused over why anyone would own a car that they didn't want to race. She asked why he thought she needed two race cars when she already one that everyone thought was so great. Jesse just looked at her like she had two heads. Letty and Nyssa looked at each other and cracked up. Jesse went on with the car; he closed the rad stopcock and started to fill it back up. Letty was bent over the engine, they didn't see too many classic cars here, they mostly worked on neighbourhood cars and import race cars. Dom was known across the whole state and often people who had heard of him would drive miles to have him build their racing engines. Nyssa was also bent over the engine staring in at it intently.  
  
Dom saw the devilish look on Vince's face and wondered what he was going to do. He started to sneak around behind Nyssa. He was going to grab her for sure. This was a side of Vince they had rarely seen, this playful, attentive side of him.  
  
Nyssa and Letty were talking about the differences between import and domestic cars when Vince grabbed Nyssa and picked her up in the air. She screamed then laughed when she realized what had happened. She told him to set her down. He did with a laugh. She was enjoying this side of Vince. Maybe he really was starting to care for her after all. He suggested they take the skyline out for awhile since nothing else was going on.  
  
She hadn't seen the skyline in days. She just hadn't looked for it. She was always driving Vince's car or the Mustang. Letty drove them back to the house. Then they walked up to the Skyline. She saw that the windows were all tinted out now. Vince must have gotten it done while she was at school one day. She asked him when he had gotten the windows done. He told her the day he cut himself. He hadn't been cutting wires, he had been cutting tint and the knife slipped. Plus it had been a knife he found lying around so he had no idea where it had been. Nyssa thanked him and told him it looked great. You couldn't see in the car from outside any more.  
  
She was much more comfortable with the car in every sense now then she had been. Soon he was going to have to take two cars and start her doing mock races. She could shift now and drive on the streets in traffic well. Not perfect and not totally confident but she was doing much better now. They just drove around for about an hour and then headed to see how the mustang was doing. Jesse had it all done and sitting out front. He was talking to some girl. She had brought her RX-6 down because it was making some sort of noise in the engine and Jesse was looking it over for her. Nyssa thought they made a cute couple. She could never believe Jesse was older then she was. He seemed so young. He was so smart with engines and cars. She hoped that girl was nice.  
  
They all went home around 5pm and Nyssa helped Mia cook supper. She told Vince to go sit down for awhile because he looked tired. They ate then Nyssa went to call her cousin and see what she missed. Manda gave her the rundown of what she had missed in class that day and then asked where she had been. Nyssa filled her in on the Vince situation and told her she had to stay home to take care of him. Nyssa hung up soon after and then went downstairs to do her homework. She normally would have done it with Mia but Mia and Brian had gone to a movie. She had a lot to catch up on after just one missed day so she got a start at it.  
  
Vince went to bed at 12 and when he entered his room Nyssa was asleep on her tummy, face in a book, still wearing all her clothes. She had obviously fallen asleep while doing her homework. She was such a hard worker. He wouldn't have cared that he missed stuff and worried about getting caught up, he would have just asked the next day what he had missed. He smiled down at her; she made quite a sight asleep on her text book. He almost called the guys in to see then decided he wanted to save the sight for himself. Vince packed all her stuff into her backpack and then picked her up. He held her up while he turned the covers back and then set her down on the bed. He undressed her and pulled her favourite night dress down over her head and turned out the light. He didn't want to think of her being uncomfortable in her clothes all night. Plus she had taken care of him when he needed it. He wondered what was wrong with him. Was he going soft for real? After all, why did he care? It was a question he would have to answer soon. He set the alarm and went to be himself.  
  
The next day was Thursday. Nyssa woke up early since she went to bed early. She wondered how she got into her nightdress and into bed. She didn't remember getting changed. Last thing she remembered she was working on math. Oh well. She got up and got dressed and headed out. She took the skyline and headed by Manda's. She picked up her cousin, who had only seen the car once before when Danny drove it. Manda was impressed. They went to school and other then explaining her absence to all her teachers she had an uneventful day.  
  
She got home and ran into Dom in the driveway. She asked him what was up. He told her not much, no one was home; they were all working at DT because it got incredibly busy that day. She told him that was fine because she had a ton of work to get caught up on. Dom headed back to the garage and Nyssa went in the house. She was working at the kitchen table when Mia got home from University. They studied for awhile together then they fixed dinner. They knew the guys would be hungry when they got home. They made spaghetti and garlic bread and salad. They just set the table when the guys came in the back door, rowdy and loud as ever.  
  
Vince grabbed Nyssa and spun her around.  
  
"So you took the Skyline on your own today eh?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"How'd that go?"  
  
"Fine, good really. I like the fact that no one can see in anymore. Thanks for doing that for me."  
  
"No problem. What did you ladies make for supper, it smells good."  
  
"Food, you guys go clean up a bit then we can eat."  
  
The guys all went and did that then they sat down and ate. After dinner they all watched some TV. They were going to races that night so everyone was just chillen for awhile before they went to get ready. Around 9 Nyssa went to get ready. She went and showered and straightened her hair. She went back to the bedroom and put on some tunes. She did her makeup and tried to pick out an outfit. She didn't have to drive so she could wear whatever she wanted. She never knew what to wear to these things. She picked a pair of black flair bottom pants with rhinestones on the seams on the outsides. She paired it with a silver tube top. She stood back and looked at herself. She guessed she'd do. She was about to leave when Vince walked into the room.  
  
He looked a Nyssa and then looked again. He asked her if that was what she planned on wearing that night. She said yes then asked him why. He told her he had just wondered was all and then pulled off his tee shirt and started to root around in his drawer for what he was going to wear. She turned off the stereo and headed upstairs. She ran into the girls and asked Mia and Letty if there was anything wrong with her outfit. The girls told her no. She decided to take the Skyline that night for the hell of it. She told the girls and they thought she should ask Vince first to see what he though, just in case he didn't want her to.  
  
Nyssa didn't really care what he thought of it to be honest. She thought maybe she should ask Dominic. Vince came up the stairs just then and saw the girls talking. It never boded well for him when Letty and Nyssa got to talking. He walked up to them and asked what was up. Nyssa told him she thought she would take the skyline down. Vince told her they could take it instead of his car if she wanted but he didn't want her to take a car on her own yet. She was doing well with the car and was kind of annoyed at this answer. She asked why. He told her he didn't think she was comfortable with the car yet that if the cops chased her she could get away. She kind of agreed with him on that point so she said it was fine if they both rode in her car but she was driving down. Vince agreed.  
  
They headed down to the alley. They all pulled in and Dom was again swarmed by skanks. Letty surprisingly walked over to where Nyssa and Mia were standing and turned her back. 


	17. Busted!

AN: chikita-latinaI don't know how to explain what's up with the couples really but let me try. It all makes perfect sense to me cause it came out of my brain. LOL. Trust me, you're not the first person to be confused by stuff I think up and think is fine. Here goes. Nyssa in very into Vince. Vince thinks he's very into Nyssa but old feelings about Mia are hard to let go of, they've been a part of him for the better part of his adult life. Dom loves Letty and Letty loves Dom, however Letty is fed up of the way he is always flirting with skanks, even if he hasn't cheated on her in a very long time and Dom knows he's gonna have to make some changes to keep her because she is getting fed up. They're gonna hit a rough spot but I'll promise you they make it out in the end Kay? Kay. I hope that clears up any confusion for people, and if other people are confused too for goodness sakes leave a note and let me know. I'll go back over it and see if I can improve the details or somethin. Now read the update then go read my new story, Adrenaline. And review that one too for goodness sakes. It's good, I swear.  
  
Chapter 16 - Busted!  
  
"Letty, what's up with you?" Mia wanted to know why she was leaving Dom in the clutches of the skanks.  
  
"Well, if he would rather flirt with skanks then be with me that's his problem. He needs to get over it and me yelling at him over it is clearly not helping. So I am going to see what ignoring him does."  
  
"Good plan, see how this works. Couldn't be much worse right?" Nyssa elbowed Letty and they laughed. Nyssa cranked the tunes in her car and she and Letty started to grove a little to the music. The song she had queued up was a techno track called Phat Bass. Nyssa and Letty drug Mia into it and the three of them got into it. They didn't notice the crowd they attracted.  
  
Dom and Vince noticed the crowd of people around where they parked and headed over. They saw the girls dancing, and watched as other people, including guys, joined in. Vince shook his head, it never failed to amaze him how that girl started stuff, and since it was her stereo that was cranked he would bet money this had been her idea. Of course Lett was dancing with some guy who had joined in and Dom looked ready to start throwing punches. They fought their way through the crowd and cut in on the guys who were dancing with their girls. Vince told Nyssa it was time to turn the music off, Dom was ready to race. She turned it off and a chorus of Awe's went up from the group. They had wanted to dance. But they dispersed now that the music was off and Dom and Vince were around.  
  
Dom called the race and it went off smoothly. Dom won. Nothing new there. Too bad there was no one to give him a run for his money. He called another race since the cops hadn't been called yet. She asked Vince if he wanted to use her car and go for it. Vince thought about it for a second and decided he knew the car well enough and he did feel like racing tonight. He took her keys and told Dom he wanted in on the race. Dom didn't want him to race because he didn't want to race his friend. Vince wouldn't back down because it had been a long time since he got to race and Dom raced nearly every race night. Dom relented and told Vince he was in. They gave Hector the money and Vince climbed into her car. Nyssa walked up to the driver's window, which Vince rolled down.  
  
"Good luck. Go get 'em."  
  
"Thanks." She patted his shoulder and moved to walk away. Vince grabbed her wrist and turned her back around. She looked at him questioningly. He tugged her down and she leaned slightly in the window. He kissed her hard. "That's what I really needed for luck sweetness. See ya in the winners circle." She leaned in the window and changed the song on the stereo.  
  
"No, this is what you need for luck." She walked away and the song changed to one Vince had never heard before. It went you better lose yourself in the music; the moment, you better never let it go. You only get one shot. Good inspirational tune he thought.  
  
He pulled the car up to the line and the four men who were involved in this race got ready to roll. Mia and Nyssa could not decide who they thought would win. Letty thought it would be Dom because it was always Dom. Leon announced it was go time when he got a 187 on the scanner and Hector dropped his arms. The two other guys may as well have just given their money and sat this one out because after two seconds it was oblivious this race was all about the red Mazda and the purple Nissan. They were neck and neck. Dom had experience, Vince had the frustration of knowing he was the known around as the big dumb guy, both had cars that could bring the speed. One car would gain half a length then the other would catch right up. 7 seconds down, 2 to go.  
  
Vince and Dom had both already used the NOS; they were still neck and neck. Could Vince get off a third charge? Would it ruin Nyssa's car? Either he tried it or he accepted a tie with Dom. It wouldn't be a full shot so it should be fine. He went for it, knowing that with Dom's system after two shots it was pretty well empty. He got just enough of an edge to beat Dom. He was going to have a hard time getting stopped from 170 though.  
  
He got it slowed down and pulled a U. He headed back to where the whole crowd was cheering. What a race. They didn't know when they had last seen someone beat Dom. Mia was looking at Dom like she expected him to freak out and do something crazy. Letty was secretly glad, hoping maybe Dom would gain some humility, seeing that he was no superman and he could be beaten. Nyssa was cheering in the middle of a crowd of other people who were cheering.  
  
Vince got out of the car and walked up to her. The people parted out of his way but Nyssa stood her ground.  
  
"Way to go cowboy. I knew you could do it." Vince picked her up by the waist and swung her around.  
  
"Thanks for letting me use your car."  
  
"I just hope some day I can drive it the way you just did."  
  
"You will."  
  
"Cops, we got cops, go. Go. Go." Leon shouted. Vince and Nyssa jumped in the Skyline, Vince drove. They ran and got out of there so fast the cops never saw them. They were the first ones home. Vince put the money in his room and Nyssa sat down in the living room, not knowing if there would be a big party or not. Leon showed up next, then Mia who had jumped in Jesse's car. Then Dom showed up. Everyone wondered where Letty was. The phone rang and Nyssa grabbed it.  
  
"Torreto's"  
  
"Nyssa, its Letty. I got caught by the cops. I'm down at the station on Parkwood. Could you or one of the guys come and get me? I need money to pay my fine too. It is in my room under the bed in a box. I know that is not a great place but bring a couple hundred bucks whoever comes ok?"  
  
"Sure Lett, I'll come right now girl, be there in about 30 minutes Kay?"  
  
"Sure. Thanks a lot Nyssa."  
  
"No problem."  
  
She hung up and turned to the team, "I gotta go get Letty from the police station. She has to pay a fine and they are keeping her car overnight."  
  
"I'll go get her." Dom said and turned to leave.  
  
"No Dom, you better let me go for her, I'll take Mia." Nyssa stated.  
  
"She's my girl, I'll go get her."  
  
"Ok Dom, smart idea. After all the cops are bound to believe you when you tell them your girlfriend went racing without you this evening. Plus your car is hot and the NOS is all used up. They have enough to question you too. They have nothing on me."  
  
"Your NOS is used up too, and your car is also in obviously just been raced shape too so I don't see how it matters who goes and gets her."  
  
"I can take the Mustang and it's not even a race car. Just the two Torreto girls getting the third, nothing funny 'bout that. Dom Torreto picking up his girlfriend at the police station after she got picked up for street racing. Not smart." Dom relented and Mia and Nyssa went upstairs and grabbed the money. They headed for the front door. Vince stopped them.  
  
"Remember Nyssa, you were home all night, you and Mia have school tomorrow so you were studying or something. Tell them we all stayed home just in case Letty told them that they had it all wrong she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time or something."  
  
"We'll do fine Vince. See you soon." The two girls left and headed down to the police station Letty had named. They walked in and Nyssa walked up to the desk jockey du jour. "We are here to get Letty Lopez please."  
  
"Who are you two? Are you a relation of hers?"  
  
"Yes, we are her cousins. Can you get her now? I understand she is only being held pending the payment of her fine."  
  
"Well, that depends. Where were you ladies all evening?"  
  
"Home studying, we both have school tomorrow, so we would like to get Letty and go home. We need to get up early in the morning."  
  
"What kind of car did you drive here in?"  
  
Nyssa knew he had no right to question them in this manner but she didn't know if he could turn around and keep Letty over night if he felt like it so while she wanted to tell him to go to hell she bit her tongue and told him a 67 mustang convertible. The cop looked out the front door and saw the car sitting there. "So can you get Letty now or is there some other event that has to happen first?"  
  
"You ladies sure you were home all evening?" They both nodded yes.  
  
"What about Torreto and his band of thugs? They home all evening too?" The cop looked at them both. Nyssa answered without hesitating, she hoped she knew Letty as well as she thought she did.  
  
"Yes we were all home. You must have picked up Letty while she went for a drive. She was the only one that left the house all evening. Mia and I were studying while the guys watched a flick." Nyssa was getting pissed off at this guy's attitude. "Listen, can you go get Letty now. I have the money to pay her fine, that she no doubt does not even deserve, and that was the only terms that were conditional of her release. So either you go get her or I call my lawyer."  
  
"Oh I'm scared now. You gonna call your lawyer. Like people like you have more then legal aid."  
  
"Well really people like me keep Kevin Elliot on retainer and you must know he is far from legal aid." He was her daddy's lawyer and he was good.  
  
The cop knew who that was and he couldn't keep the girl. He relented and went and got her. They paid the fine and climbed into the mustang. Letty told Nyssa she heard every word and it was perfect. They arrived home to just the guys, no party. Dom said he wasn't in the mood. Poor baby was sulking over losing to Vince. Letty told the story of how great Nyssa had been. Nyssa was quick to point out how much Dom had wanted to go and how worried he had been. Letty looked at Dom and could tell by how grateful he was that Nyssa brought it up he really had wanted to go get her.  
  
"So it's not that he's lazy, he wanted to come get me eh? Well what stopped him?" Letty wanted to know.  
  
"Nyssa thought he would end up in with you so she made him stay home." Vince figured she would believe him, and she did.  
  
Dom and Letty went to bed and the rest of the team unwound a little with some Grand Theft Auto, which always relaxed them. Nyssa fell asleep with her head in Vince's lap while he played video games. He was planning on buying her something nice for letting him use her car but he didn't know what to buy a girl one thought one liked that wasn't too serious, but at the same time was not insipid. While he was thinking about that Leon won the game against Jesse and yelled. Nyssa came to with a start. She told Vince she was going to bed, even if it was only 2am and she didn't have to get up early the next day, she was tired. 


	18. Practice and Life Lessons

Chapter 18 - Learning to Race.  
  
The next day Vince went off to do god knows what, she always thought it was better if she didn't know, so she didn't ask what he did the days he didn't go work for Dom. She knew he disappeared for hours at a time. He was doing something for sure but she didn't want to know what. She figured it was illegal and didn't really care.  
  
Nyssa got up early the next day and snuck out of the room, leaving Vince asleep and went looking for Letty. Nyssa had told Letty she wanted to get good at racing and then surprise Vince because he had thought that she didn't practise enough and she didn't want to win bad enough. Letty agreed it was a good plan, plus it was a good idea to have other teachers. Having the same one all the time got old. Or at least it had for her.  
  
Letty had hated every minute of Dom teaching her to race. She had also known how to drive already when Dom taught her to race. The only reason she got good at it is because she had to, just to rub Dom's nose in it. She could hold her own in a race with any of the guys now. She was looking forward to having another chick around who could race as well as she did. She loved Mia like a sister but the girl had no interest in racing and sometimes Letty just felt like Mia didn't get her at all. She knew she had found a kindred spirit in Nyssa.  
  
Nyssa stopped the car and got out for the 10th time that day.  
  
"Jesus Letty, I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. You say you are going easy on me but I can't come close to you. How can I ever race if I can't even beat my friend who is trying to let me win?"  
  
"Nyssa, you can't just race like a machine you know. It is not a skill you can learn from a text book. You need to put your heart into it. You need to feel the adrenaline in your blood."  
  
"I am trying Letty but I mean, damn it, I thought I was faster then I am right now. I am faster when I am just doing drills then I am when you and I race. I don't know what is wrong."  
  
"That's what's wrong girl. You are treating racing me like it is just another run. Like beating me is a skill you could have gotten in a text book. I know Vince is a capable teacher but maybe he neglected to tell you one fundamental thing about racing."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"It has to be a sport of passion. You need to feel it in your soul. You are going to be racing guys with years more experience, talent, and the will to win at all costs. You need to find that drive in your heart and soul or you may as well give up now. If you don't have the will to win then you can be the best technical racer in the world and you will never win races. Because the guy beside you who taught himself wants to win so bad he can taste it and he is actually sexually turned on over the rush. When I race, especially a guy, I want to beat him because I know he is looking at me thinking I have no idea what I am doing and some guy built my car for me. I want to show them the error of snap judgements."  
  
"I do want to win, but I just can't see you in that kind of light that I want to cream you. You're one of my best friends."  
  
"Ok, let's look at this from another angle. You are racing exactly the way Vince taught you Right? Shifting when he taught you, NOS when he taught you and so on right?"  
  
"Well ya, isn't that right?"  
  
"Yes and no. Technically yes, I'm sure he taught you the right things, the right times to do stuff, but on the other hand you have to learn to do stuff when it feels right to you. You have to have a feel for it. You have to feel it. Listen to me. I bet you never knew there was anything this deep about me huh? Letty the racer has feelings."  
  
"Well, I knew that Lett but I still don't really know what you mean about feel it."  
  
"Well think of the car as a man. From this point forward your car is a he not a she ok."  
  
"Um..Ok..."  
  
"Now when you are with a man, you know, *with* him, do you go by what some book told you to do? Did a friend teach you how to have sex with a man? Do you have a manual for how you do what you do with Vince? No you just go by the feelings, let your feelings tell you what to do right?"  
  
"No, I have no manual but I wish I did. I don't do what you think I do with Vince. We never reached that point yet. But I think I see what you mean now."  
  
"Hold up, you and Vince have never done it? Ever?"  
  
"Um..No.."  
  
"Well that is your problem, his too, neither of you are getting any. Just jump his bones and you'll race better. Learn to handle your man in bed, learn to race him on the streets and win." Letty looked like she had just cured cancer, she was that smug and happy with herself.  
  
"No I really get it now. I don't have to rush out and have sex to get it. You finally got through to me. I need to lose myself in the moment, into the car, become one with the car as it were, visualize myself winning and want that so bad nothing else matters. Want it so bad it doesn't matter if I am racing you or Dom or Johnny Tran. I have to want to win above all else as long as I am behind the wheel of the car. That's the passion, that 's the feeling. And as long as I just drive the car I can't win. I have to let the fact that I wanna win and be the best be the only thing that matters when I race.  
  
"Now you get it. See? But you still need to get on Vince, You don't know what you are missing out on."  
  
"Well I am not a virgin you know. But I only did it once before, just because everyone was. It hurt like hell, it was terrible, no fun, and me and the guy broke up soon after. Well, since we are being all deep and shit, we didn't break up. He was only with me cause he and his friends had a bet about if he could get me to give it up to him or not. I was overweight and shy and they made a bet over wether I would have sex with Doug just because a cute guy asked me out. But like I said, it just seemed like all my friends were doin it, and he was cute. Then after I found out about the bet. Since then I haven't had any interest. Well, till Vince, but I don't want to rush things."  
  
"Girl, trust me. You would not be rushing things, the boy is half in love with you already, he is just notoriously thick skulled. The sooner you give him some the sooner it will dawn on him how important you are to him. Men are ruled by their dicks. Learn to live with it, and accept it. Because when you understand the nature of a thing, you know what it is capable of."  
  
Both women laughed at that. Nyssa and Letty climbed back into their cars and decided to do one more run. Letty was still going easy on Nyssa but she thought that perhaps The time for going easy on her was over. Nyssa won. Letty was pleased. She had finally gotten through to Nyssa. Helped her find her edge. Now she could race. She still had a long way to go really, to be able to race people who wanted to beat her but she was well on her way now. Nyssa seemed almost too laid back by times. She had to find her inner bitch. And Letty thought with a laugh, she was just the girl to help her with that. They headed home after Nyssa had managed to almost beat Letty again when Letty wasn't trying to let her.  
  
Vince was gone when they got back and he never showed for dinner. Nyssa was starting to get worried about him. She did all her homework and there was still no sign of him. It was 9:30pm already. Man where the hell was he? She had to have some idea. She looked for Leon. She thought Dom was more likely to know but she just wasn't comfortable with Dom like she was with Leon and Jesse. She found Leon in front of the PS2, of course.  
  
She asked him if he had any idea where Vince was. He told her no, but he was lying. "Come on Leon. I know you know. I don't need details. Just tell me if he planned on being gone this long and if he is ok where ever he is."  
  
"I don't know if he planned on being gone this long or not but he's fine. Call him on his cell if you want. He won't care." How the hell did she do that? She always knew when he was trying to lie to her. He was glad she didn't want to know what Vince was doing but figured it was only fair she know he was alright.  
  
"I'm not checking up on him. He can come and go whenever he wants. Just fine with me..." Nyssa walked away mumbling about how why would he want to do something nice like leave a note or tell her he was going to be gone all evening. Why would she want to know that little detail?  
  
Leon figured Vince was in for it when ever he did get home. Nyssa sought out Letty. She told her Vince was gone doing whatever it was he did when he disappeared and she was pissed that he never told her he would be gone all day and night. Letty told her she knew all about it. And it sucked but it was just the way the guys were. Not much they could do but live with it or yell at them all the time. Nyssa asked if that meant that Letty just didn't care when Dom did stuff like this, she just smiled and acted like he wasn't missing all day. Letty told her hell no, she was distant and cold to him till he told her he was sorry or at least told her where he had been. 


	19. Take the Skyline

Chapter 19 - Take the Skyline  
  
Vince let himself in the house and the guys said hey. He saw Letty and Nyssa talking together on the couch in the back corner of the room. The two dark heads bent together talking about something serious for sure. They both looked up when he came farther in the living room then both dismissed him with a gaze and went back to their talk. Vince knew he was in trouble but he also wanted to see what she would do about it.  
  
Seemed she wasn't going to do much of anything. She just kept talking to Letty. He walked over to them and asked Nyssa how her day had been. She told him fine and went back to talking to Letty. Her attitude said dismissed as clear as day. So she wasn't going to yell, she was going to be frosty. Vince walked away and sat with the guys. They played the game for awhile. She and Letty talked some more and Letty told her not to give in to him till she had gotten an explanation that satisfied her. Nyssa headed to bed.  
  
Vince went down to bed about 5 minutes after her and found her sitting in front of the mirror brushing her hair. It was always quite a job since she had so much of it and it got so tangled. She winced again, she was literally ripping the brush threw her hair because she was tired and she just wanted it done. Vince figured they may as well get the fight out of the way and took the brush from her.  
  
"So you gonna yell at me or what?"  
  
"No, why would I yell at you Vince?"  
  
"Cause I didn't tell you I was going to be gone all day and night and you likely worried."  
  
"You don't need to tell me what you do with your time V. You're a big boy."  
  
"I should have told you I was going to be gone awhile. I know you worried and I know you're pissed at me. I'll tell you when I expect to be home next time."  
  
"That's fine Vince. It makes no difference; I don't want to control your comings and goings."  
  
God she was stubborn. She was not giving in. He was trying to get away without doing what he was now going to have to do. Apologise. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you where I went and when I would be home alright?" That was what she had been waiting for.  
  
"I really don't care were you go Vince. It's none of my business. But an idea when you think you'll be home would be nice. I did worry. You never took off all day before."  
  
"Deal. From now on if I will be gone like I was today, I'll make sure you know."  
  
He still had her hair brush. He turned her back around in her seat and started to brush her hair for her. He would swear she was making a purring noise like a cat being stroked while he did it.  
  
He watched her in the mirror while he finished brushing her hair, her head thrown back, the long caramel column of her throat, the v of her robe, her pretty face, those intriguing, too smart eyes, closed, saving him from the scrutiny. She always looked at him like she knew him. The real him, not the Vince that people thought they knew. The team knew the real him and up till Nyssa they were the only ones. Everyone else thought he was just big dumb Vince, Dom's friend. Mostly he liked it like that. No one wanted to mess with him, and when people didn't expect too much from you it was hard to let them down.  
  
With Nyssa, he thought, it was hey that's Dom, Vince's friend. It was nice to come first; it did hurt to have people think he was dumb all the time. He should drop the act. But it was how he survived for so many years. But Nyssa saw through all the crap. There was something to that. He tied her hair back the way he had watched her do so many times and then she opened her eyes. Her eyes met his in the mirror and it felt like they were looking into each other's souls. In that moment Vince was sure about one thing. Nyssa was the girl he wanted right now. The future had a way of figuring itself out and he was through denying himself the pleasure of having Nyssa in his life as his girl. The mere thought of her as someone else's filled him with rage. The thought of Mia with Brian no longer did, but if he thought of Nyssa with Leon, or even some random guy from her school he wanted to lay a beating on whoever it was he was thinking of at the time.  
  
He leaned over and kissed her neck. She leaned back against his chest and closed her eyes again. Nyssa felt the change in the way he was treating her. He had never been anything but sweet, but he always held a part of himself back from her. He wasn't now. She knew that after tonight things were never going to be the same in her world. She cared about Vince. There had been no talk of how they would go on but that would just have to be played by ear because she wanted this. Had for some time but it had to be his decision. Seemed like he had made it. He picked her up and carried her to bed. He pulled his shirt off over his head and crawled onto the bed. They kissed some more and this time Nyssa just let nature take it's course. Right before the moment he joined them she stopped him because the one other time she had done this was three years before and it had hurt like hell. She wanted him to know for some reason. So she filled him in. Vince was floored that she trusted him this much and did his best to be gentle.  
  
Nyssa had to give it to Vince; she may just have remembered that even if she was drunk. She decided to tell him that but for now she was so sleepy all she wanted to do was savour the warmth and safety of his embrace and sleep. So she did, smiling as she drifted off. Vince felt so content, better then he had in a long time. He also fell asleep with a smile on his face.  
  
She had woken up beside this man every day for the last chunk of her life but everything was different the next day. She should have anticipated that but she hadn't. She watched him sleep. He looked so young and innocent in his sleep. But that was cliché wasn't it? Didn't every bad romance story you read have a part where one of the main characters watched the other sleep and marvelled at how innocent and sweet they looked? Well it was in all those books because it was true. The sheets were tangled around his waist and she admired the tanned expanse of his chest, her gaze traveling up to his face slowly. He was still smiling. She hoped it was thoughts of her that had put that smile there. He woke up then and looked up at her, then the smile widened.  
  
"Hey." He said with a smile in that gravely morning voice of his, she loved how he sounded before he had his coffee.  
  
"Hey." She said back. She smiled back and turned bright red. She had never had sex with a guy and then woke up in his bed. The only other time she had done that she had to sneak home lest her dad catch her and kill the guy. Now she was all grown up but it was still strange. She wondered if it was strange for him or if there had been so many mornings after that it was routine to him.  
  
"You ok?"  
  
"Couldn't be much better. You?"  
  
"I am awesome." He pulled her down for his kiss. After the kiss he smiled at her with a look that might be wonder on his face. She wondered what that was about then caught a look at the clock.  
  
"Oh shit, it is already 12pm. God Damn it, I meant to set the alarm." Nyssa jumped out of bed and headed to the dresser. She was so focused on getting dressed she forgot she had just paraded across the room naked.  
  
"What's up?"  
  
"I gotta meet Manda at her house in a half hour and it is almost that far away and I am not even dressed yet."  
  
"Call her and tell her you'll be late and come back to bed."  
  
"I can't, they are having a party for her mom's birthday and Manda and I have to drive there together. I have to pick her up right at 12:30 or we 'll be late. Much as your idea sounds so much better then an afternoon of Manda's snotty mother and her side of that family. Oh man. I gotta get dressed. What am I going to wear?"  
  
"Oh, I see, not the kind of thing you can just get out of eh?" She shook her head. "Wear your little blue leather skirt with the silver dragon on it and the black shirt with the dragon on it, plus your boots that go up to your knee."  
  
"When did you become an authority on women's clothes?"  
  
"I just know what I like to see you in. And I have a thing for dragons." He glanced at his dragon tattoo.  
  
Nyssa started to pull on the outfit. She wore it so her thong would show on her hips, knowing that she was decently dressed but for that. She hated Manda's mom. "What car should I drive? Should I take the Skyline just to piss them off? When they see that thing it will give them all heart failure. Or I could take your car and let them wonder what kind of guy I hooked up with that he has a nice, family car with tens of thousands of dollars worth of mods and NOS?" She had let Vince put a decal package on her car so it would fit in better and now it had a rampant dragon on either side. Vince designed it for her. He was a bit of an artist as well as a guitar player. But the skyline would match her outfit. Vince came to the same conclusion and told her,  
  
"Take the Skyline for sure."  
  
"I thought so too. See you later baby, I'll come back as soon as I can." She leaned over and kissed him. She remembered what she had wanted to tell him and decided now was the best time when she could escape and he would have to dress before he could follow her. "Oh, and I just wanted you to know, after last night, I am sorry that I laughed when you told me I would remember, I know now that I would have." With that she ran out the door and up the stairs. Vince groaned. She was always doing stuff like that. Tell him something he would want to hear then run away when he couldn't chase her. If he did right now someone would get a view of more then they wanted to see because he would be running through the house naked. 


	20. You big kid

Chapter 20 - You big kid  
  
Nyssa got to Manda's on time just barely and she had exceeded the speed limit severely to do it. Manda came out of the house and went around to the 'wrong' side and got in the car. They headed off. Manda wanted to know if Nyssa was looking to start shit dressing like that and driving this car. Nyssa told her no, she had woken up late, Vince helped her pick out her outfit and this was the only car she could drive that had not been blocked in in the driveway.  
  
They arrived at the party. Her uncle John was a nice guy and he was glad to see his niece. First he went in at her for not calling him when she ran away from Ed, then he hugged her and told her if she ever needed anything to let him know. She told him she had been to see her dad and that everything was going to be fine now. He wanted to know all about Vince. She filled him in with as few details as possible. Then her aunt Karen came over. She sneered at Nyssa's outfit. Her aunt never liked her. She didn't know why.  
  
"Well Nyssandre, that is quite the outfit you have on."  
  
"Thanks Karen, Happy birthday by the way."  
  
"Thank you dear." Said the ice queen. Man that woman got on Nyssa's nerves.  
  
Then Nyssa's uncle noticed the car she had arrived in. They had thought Manda was picking Nyssa up because they didn't know that Nyssa had a car. They thought Danny's car was long gone, and had never seen it anyway.  
  
"Nyssa were did you get that?"  
  
"It was Danny's race car John. You like it?"  
  
"Well it sure is different. I didn't think it was allowed to drive on the roads."  
  
"Really? I didn't know that. Vince seems to think it's fine and one of the guys, Leon, has one too, but I will look into that. I have my mustang at home but it was blocked in the driveway by all four of the guy's cars so I couldn't take it."  
  
"That is not a car for a young lady to drive Nyssandre! And what do you mean all four of the guy's cars?" Karen didn't want her daughter to get any ideas.  
  
Nyssa hated it when her snotty aunt insisted on using her full name. "Really Karen? But it matches my outfit so perfectly. I would have thought you would appreciate that. And I mean that Dom, Leon, Jesse and Vince were all parked in the driveway behind my Mustang." Karen huffed and Manda drug her cousin off to mingle with other people closer to their own age.  
  
"Well John, really! I don't know if I approve of Manda being around Nyssandre at this point. The girl is nothing but a bad influence. And we both know what that car is for. It looks just like the ones you see racing all over the city at night. And those people she lives with must be criminals. She is living with thugs and racing in the streets in a souped up car like white trash. This Vince character sounds shady."  
  
"Now Karen, Nyssa is not a bad influence on anyone. She goes to school and does well even after all she has been through. She sure came into a new style of dress, but that is not so bad. She didn't have much of her teenage years to just be a kid. We can't judge the people she lives with till we meet them and besides that there are two other young ladies that live there and one of them is in UCLA. She helps Nyssa study. As far as the car goes I know that Danny raced it on the track so you are likely right about the street racing. I will have a talk about that with her and Mark. Have some patience with her Karen; her dad will be out of jail in 2 years or so."  
  
"Well I don't want Manda to get any ideas about going to street races. They are nothing but gatherings of hooligans who do drugs and race cars on the street for crying out loud John. You better deal with your Niece. You are the only person around who can deal with her with her dad in jail. I mean imagine how this would affect us around the club if people found out your niece lived in some slum with a houseful of slackers."  
  
"Karen, for the last time, her roommates are likely very nice, the man who owns the house also owns a garage and a convenience store and he has given Nyssa a summer job with him. I think she looks happier now then she has in years and I am not taking that from her. We'll keep an eye on her. And I will speak to my brother about the street racing issue. Manda and her cousin are best friends and if anything I think Manda has been the only influence on Nyssa. Nyssa certainly has come out of her shell since her and Manda became close again.  
  
"You better talk to her John." John gave his wife one of the looks that clearly said time to be quiet. She took the hint.  
  
Manda and Nyssa were talking on the way over to a group of family their own age. Nyssa filled Manda in on the new developments in her relationship with Vince on the way over to the group of teenagers. Manda couldn't believe her strait laced, butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, cousin was sleeping and living with a gun toting thug. But Nyssa was happy which was nice, nice to see her happy for the first time since her brother died. And nice to see she could fall for a guy after what that jerk Doug did to her. But Manda felt her cousin could do better then Vince. She could not get the thought that he was just a stupid thug out of her mind. Of course Nyssa had never even introduced them. Which when she thought about it made sense considering that they all thought she had been trying to pick up the involved owner of the house.  
  
She had to let Nyssa know she was past that and get introduced to Nyssa's new friends so that she could make sure that they were good to her cousin. Plus when Nyssa was on top of the racing world she didn't want her to forget her cousin. When Nyssa hit the top of this ride there were going to be hot, rich, single guys everywhere and Manda wanted to be her cousin's pretty, sexy sidekick. More so then some grease monkey thug.  
  
They talked to the assorted cousins; some were related to both girls and some only to Manda. Nyssa didn't feel like she didn't belong for the first time ever. She thought she might owe some of that to Vince. Up till the time she started to hang with him she would have felt out of sorts in this situation. Since hooking up with Vince and his team she had gained confidence. Manda and she talked to the cousins for about an hour and they decided to all go out on the town some time soon. Manda and Nyssa were the youngest of the cousins at almost 20 for Nyssa and almost 19 for Manda, which of course made them too young to get into clubs. The cousins all knew this but said it should not be hard to get fake id in LA. Nyssa was strangely comfortable with the thought of getting and using fake ID. Manda, she knew, would have no issues with it.  
  
They were then told the food was ready and they all went to eat. Nyssa had fixed her skirt to hide her underwear and she was on her best behaviour all through dinner. All the relatives would have thought she had the best upbringing of anyone if they all didn't know better. She was witty and funny. Only Karen still gave her the cold shoulder. She enjoyed herself more then she thought she would. Around 6pm she knew it was time to go. She asked Manda if she wanted a ride home with her or if she wanted to catch a ride with her parents. Manda decided to go with her parents this time. Nyssa said good bye to her uncle and took off. She decided to stir up some shit for fun and she squealed out of the lot like a bat out of hell.  
  
She arrived home with a splitting headache from trying so hard to be nice. She believed that Letty had rubbed off on her more then she realized. She wanted nothing more then to tell the whole lot of them to go to hell, just like Letty would have, she figured. She walked in the front door and threw her bag down on the floor. Letty was in the living room playing on the PS2. Nyssa threw herself down on the couch and tipped her head back and closed her eyes.  
  
"Vince told us where you went. Rough time?"  
  
"You don't know the half of it. You know in the short amount of time I have lived here I have changed into a totally different person. My whole family short of my dad and uncle are so full of crap I just spent the last 4 hours wanting to tell every last one of them to go to hell and I wouldn't let myself. The new me wanted to though. The old me wouldn't even have thought that way. So that's progress I guess."  
  
"What are they like that made you so mad?"  
  
"Well, my aunt Karen started as soon as I got out of the car about the car, my outfit, my life, where I live, who I live with, who I chose to date. You name it she bitched about it Lett. My god, when I start to race, if they find out, you know they might just tell Manda she can't see me anymore at this rate. Karen is just the bitch to do it too. I like my cousin. I know you guys don't really but she is a good girl, if a bit materialistic and self centered."  
  
"It would suck if you couldn't see her anymore. She's your friend too not just your cousin but you know I don't like any girls who try to get with Dom even though they know I exist."  
  
"I know. And we had a talk about that, Manda and I. I told her it was not well done of her to go after a guy with a girl already, and that everyone knew, it wasn't a secret. She thought it was, I guess she told the wrong person that she liked him. I mean that is nothing new anyway. Half the girls at races have a thing for Dom, you already knew that Letty. And when I told her that other people knew she was embarrassed. She said she knew that nothing would ever come of it and she didn't want to mess with you." Both girls laughed at that.  
  
"Well I am glad to hear there is one less girl I have to worry about Dom cheating on me with."  
  
"How many times did you really catch him at it though Lett?"  
  
"Enough."  
  
"Well once is enough, but I thought maybe it was mostly just he went missing and then you assumed he was cheating again."  
  
"No I've caught him at it enough. More then enough, trust me."  
  
"Ok, that doesn't change the fact that the Manda issue is settled. Have you caught him lately?  
  
"No, not lately."  
  
"Well maybe he's making an effort not to. I've seen how he looks at you. He loves you. Man, I have a splitting headache."  
  
Vince heard the last part only, that the Manda issue was over, thank god, and that his poor Nyssa had a splitting headache. Poor thing, well he knew just what was good for headaches didn't he. She was sitting on the couch, head thrown back and eyes closed. He put a finger to his lips to warn Letty to stay quiet and then he leaned over and kissed her. She felt the soft brush of lips against hers and the tickle of his beard on her forehead because of the position they were in. He picked her up over the couch and carried her downstairs. Letty thought about what Nyssa had said. Maybe she would do her pat and not accuse Dom of anything anymore and try to make it easy for him not to stray. She knew she started shit sometimes.  
  
Nyssa was nibbling on Vince's neck as he carried her down the stairs and he was growling at her for it. They spend the next hour in his room, helping her get over her headache.  
  
That night Mia and Brian went to see a movie and Nyssa and Letty played video games with Leon and Jesse cause Vince was off doing god knows what again and Dom was in the garage fixing some car for some guy who had to have it done by the next morning and was willing to pay. Vince had told her he would be gone awhile this time at lease and since she wasn't trying to run his life she didn't say anything. She was more curious about what he was up to but she didn't say anything. She didn't want to ask him in case it seemed to him like she was trying to get further into his life then he wanted to let her. She figured he would tell her when he was good and ready. All she knew was his gun was gone with him. Nyssa and Letty both left the guys around 1am and headed to bed. Neither Vince nor Dom had gotten home by this time. Nyssa was glad she and Letty, and Mia, were friends. It was nice having good girlfriends close by.  
  
Vince came home at 2am and dragged his tired ass right downstairs, took a shower then went to bed. If he had thought Nyssa would wait up for him he was sadly mistaken. She was out like a light in the middle of his bed on her back. Her hair was fanned out around her head. He changed then tried to figure how to make room for himself in the bed with her right smack dab in the middle. Well he figured there was no way around it he was going to have to pick her up and move her off to one side. He slid his arm under her knees and back and lifted her up.  
  
"Um, V is that you?" She asked in that sleepy voice he loved so much.  
  
"Who else were you expecting?" He asked with a laugh.  
  
"Vin Diesel," She giggled after naming one of the movie stars that her girlfriends at school went crazy over, "but I wasn't expecting you to wake me up in the middle of the night either."  
  
"You were asleep in the center of the bed with your arms and legs and hair everywhere. It was move you or sleep on the couch. That ain't happenin." He said when she gave him a look that said she thought that's what he should have done rather then wake her. He set her down and slid in with her. "So how was your evening?"  
  
"Fine, Letty and I beat the shit out of Jesse and Leon on the play station and went for a drive around in the skyline." Well really she and Letty had done more practise runs. She beat Letty one time out of 5 but she didn't know if that was because Letty let her or if she really was getting better.  
  
"You letting Letty teach you to drive? I guess I need to make more time for you girl, I don't want anyone else to teach you to drive."  
  
"No, I just wanted the company while I went for a drive. Oh and Vince I have no school tomorrow, so don't bother waking me ok? It is some sort of parent teacher thing and since I have no parent I just get the day off."  
  
"I could go as the only adult in your life at this time."  
  
Nyssa laughed. "You are not much of an adult you big kid. You spend your days working on and driving race cars. You are about as much an adult as rock stars and pro athletes."  
  
"I'll show you how adult I am." He kissed her and it was much later before she fell asleep again. She didn't much care since she wasn't getting up early the next day. She got up around 10 and decided to hang out at DT with Letty and the guys for awhile since she was going to be working there soon enough anyway. 


	21. Ready to Race

Chapter 21 - Ready to Race  
  
Sorry to have made you all wait so long but not only did I have to travel for family business I got a new computer and my internet has been acting up. Thus the delay. But here you go and I'll try to have another update soon. Thanks for your patience and for the emails I got telling me they liked the story. Thanks again. (  
  
Letty and she were working on some car, Letty was showing her the basics of car repair. Dom and Mia were fighting over what to do with some work orders, Mia was not going to be upset to turn over the receptionist duties to Nyssa at all. Leon and Jesse were working on another car together and they were listening to loud music while they worked. As far as Nyssa knew Vince was still home in bed. She hadn't wanted to wake him. She had set the alarm to do her dirty work for her at 11am. In fact he would be waking to that in about 10 minutes. She laughed at her own deviousness.  
  
Just then a flat bed tow truck pulled up to the back bay doors with a very wrecked, rough car on it. They all walked over to the door and Brian came up beside the truck.  
  
"What the hell is this? Whatdya got there?" Dom asked, wondering what the hell Brian wanted to do with the junk pile on the truck.  
  
"This is your car!" Brian said with a flourish toward the junk pile pretending to be a race car.  
  
"My car?" Dom asked with a laugh. "I said a 10 second car, not a 10 minute car."  
  
Jesse hit the fender of the blackened car. "You could push this across the finish line or tow it." He laughed.  
  
"You couldn't tow that across the finish line." Dom laughed, Letty and Nyssa were also cracking up leaning against the black car they had been working on.  
  
"No faith" Brian said, looking hurt.  
  
"Oh I have faith in you but this is not a junk yard, it's a garage."  
  
"Pop the hood." Brian looked like he was going to save the situation yet. Mia looked on indulgently at him. She was clearly falling for him.  
  
"Pop the hood?" Dom asked with an incredulous look on his face.  
  
"Pop the hood." Brian said with a gesture toward the front of the car.  
  
They unloaded the car from the truck. It seemed it was staying now whether Dom wanted it or not.  
  
Jesse pryed the hood off the wreck. "2 J Z engine, no shit."  
  
"See, what'd I tell you?"  
  
Dom was visibly impressed. "I retract my previous statement."  
  
Jesse went on to tell them that after a lot of work the car could bead anything. Dom told Brian that he would put the car parts on his account at Harry's and that Brian would have to race for him at wars and help fix up the car. Whenever Brian was not at work at the Racer's Edge, he was to be at DT working on his car. Vince was not going to like that. Dom looked at Nyssa.  
  
"And if you want to be a permanent fixture around the place you better work your butt off and be ready to race at wars too. You need to get racing, you've been practising how to drive long enough. Take someone and go do mock races or something. I want you ready for wars. Consider it an audition to the team for both of you."  
  
Nyssa and Brian shared a look. Mia looked at Brian. "He owns you now." Brian gave her a look like that of a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming 18 wheeler. Mia didn't look happy because of course she didn't date her brother's friends, but she was going to make an exception for Brian. Mia looked at Nyssa and finished, "You better get cracking at getting ready to race girl, he's not kidding." She looked at her brother who was now bent over a customer's car.  
  
"Don't worry 'bout it Mia. Letty and I are all over it but you can't tell anyone. I don't want Vince or Dom to know but Letty and I have been doing mock races and I beat her once. I'll be ready."  
  
"Good. I don't want you stuck as the sandwich girl you know. He likes you so it's not like he would kick you out but he seems to think you can race so he would be disappointed."  
  
"Well, so would I Mia, I wanna race not make drinks and sandwiches for the rest of my days."  
  
"Good. Oh no, here comes trouble." Sure enough Vince was walking up to the garage, looking so fine if Nyssa did say so, and eyeing up Brian with a look that said he was looking for a fight.  
  
"Oh man, what is he? A fighting fool? He just can't wait to try to fight Brian again. I sure hope he is not right about Brian though. He is so sure there is more to him then what we know." Nyssa thought maybe Vince just liked to fight and he really thought Brian was up to something.  
  
"Well, I like Brian, we are going out tomorrow tonight and if Vince hurts him then I am going to have to hurt Vince. I will not be happy."  
  
"Well then girl we need a plan right now to keep the two of 'em apart or very close to Dominic."  
  
"Why don't you take your man and go do some races?"  
  
"Good idea." She ran up to Vince. "Morning Baby. You have a good night sleep?"  
  
Vince's whole demeanour softened while he talked to Nyssa, he was not all tense and ready for a fight while he looked at the girl. The whole garage saw it. "Till the alarm that someone was nice enough to set went off." He smiled down at her to take the sting of the sarcasm out of his words. "You have anything to do with that?"  
  
"Of course. I wanted you up and down here so that we could get some lunch. But now there is an even better reason why. Dom has laid down the law. I have to be ready to race at wars or I am going to be a sandwich monkey not a racer. So we need to practise all the time. Good thing school is over in two weeks."  
  
Vince noticed the new car, or rather the new car wreck. He nodded to Nyssa's statement then asked, "What the hell is that?"  
  
"That is Brian's ten minute car." She laughed and Brian turned red under the scrutiny. "That is the car Brian will be driving at race wars after he fixes it up. Dom has also said that Brian has to work here when he is not at Harry's and fix it up. Race wars is going to be both of our auditions as it were for the team."  
  
"Oh hell no. He is not letting that fucker on the team?"  
  
"I guess he is if Brian does well at race wars. Come on Vince, who cares? Take me to practise. Or don't you want me on the team either?"  
  
"Of course I want you on the team but not him. I just hate him Nyssa. My hand is all better. Please let me hit him, Please?"  
  
"Do you like pissing off Dom and Mia for some reason?"  
  
"No, why?"  
  
"Cause the way you act is doing just that. I mean no one says you have to like him but you have to stop with the tough guy act all the time with him. Just have a live and let live attitude with him. Dom is smart. If Brian is not trustworthy Dom will figure it out on his own. Just give it time and keep reminding Dom not to tell him anything. I mean I know you guys are up to something but I don't want you to tell me what you know. Remind Dom to keep an eye on Brian and that if he starts asking questions then think about what they are. That sort of thing."  
  
"I know he is up to something."  
  
"Fine Vince, but you can't prove it yet and all you do when you try to fight him all the time is make Dom mad and me look bad."  
  
"How does this make you look bad?"  
  
"Because it looks like you are still fighting for Mia even though you have another girl. I mean do you want me to look like some poor substitute for Mia?"  
  
"No, that's not the point."  
  
"I know that and you know that but everyone else around doesn't."  
  
"I guess I see that."  
  
"Good. Let's go race each other for practise. I think my car can take yours."  
  
"It could but you are not half the driver you would need to be to beat me yet."  
  
"Let's go and we'll see."  
  
So they headed to the track. They played cat and mouse on the freeway and Vince was impressed with how she handled the car on the road. Nyssa had found her inner racer chick. She was darting in and out of the cars with wild abandon. When she realized what it was like to race there was no stopping her. She was good. Letty was impressed with her at least. She hoped Vince would be too.  
  
They arrived and got out of the cars. Vince asked her if she was sure she was ready for this, if she wouldn't rather just practise some more together. She told him she was more then sure she was ready to go. They got back into their cars and lined them up. Nyssa turned off the music. She found she raced better if she tuned in with the car. She became one with the car and engine and for that she had to be able to hear the engine. Vince figured he would go easy on her. She put herself in her race place and laughed when it occurred to her that Letty was right. Since she learned what true passion was with Vince she had raced better.  
  
The light went green and she popped the clutch and took off. Vince was like what the hell. When had she learned to do that? He recovered his equilibrium and tried to catch up but it was too late. She had surprised him so bad she beat him by a nose. They got stopped and got out of the cars.  
  
"Where the hell did you learn to do that?" Vince asked her.  
  
"Letty and I have been practising while you've been gone so often. She helped me find my edge."  
  
"I see that. Well. I am shocked. You are ready to get in on some junior races next race night."  
  
"You're mad at me for working on this with Letty aren't you?"  
  
"No, what makes you think that?"  
  
"They look on your face and the way you are talking to me. I thought you would be happy and proud of me for learning so fast and it seemed like you were always busy. I know you have your work, whatever it is so I am not saying that you ignored me or anything. It just happened that Letty and I had free time in the same times a lot so I took the initiative and learned with her. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."  
  
"Nothing like that, I know I've been busy, but I liked teaching you. I liked the time we spent together."  
  
"And now we can race together and we will be team mates for sure."  
  
They hugged and headed back to DT. Vince told Dom Nyssa was ready for some small races. Dom was surprised, he didn't think she would be ready this soon. He gave his approval for her to race next meet. 


	22. It all comes together, realizations

Chapter 28 -It all comes together  
  
Vince told Nyssa to go hang with Letty for awhile while he talked to Dom. Nyssa agreed and walked over to Letty. They started to talk about the fact that Dom had given permission for her to race next race night.  
  
Vince told Dom he didn't trust Brian at all. Dom shook his head and told Vince that he had to give it up already. They all knew he didn't want Mia to date other guys but now that he had Nyssa he really had to get over it. Vince told Dom it wasn't over that at all, he really didn't trust the guy. He was sure Brian was a cop. Dom told Vince that Brian was not a cop. Vince thought up a test in that second.  
  
"Ok then brotha, you won't mind if we follow his ass tonight just to see what he does with his free time."  
  
"Fine Vince, but I bet he does nothing but work on his car then go home to bed."  
  
"You're on Dom, because I bet he does cop stuff."  
  
They all ate supper then the guys broke it to the girls that they had team plans for the evening and they would be home later. Letty asked why she was not allowed to go if the team was involved. They told her it was guy stuff and she should stay home with Nyssa and Mia. That didn't sit well with Letty. There was no such thing as guy stuff to her. Dom took her aside and told her they needed her to stay home with Nyssa while they did something and that she really didn't want to be involved in what they had to go do. Hell, Dom didn't even really want to be involved but he hoped that by following the guy this once and finding nothing Vince would calm down about it. Dom, Vince and Jesse got in the Jetta and went to 'The Racers Edge'. The red truck that Harry let Brian use was not there.  
  
They left and drove around aimlessly for a few minutes till Vince had an idea.  
  
"We need to go to Hector's club. I have this feeling we'll find Brian there."  
  
Dom said fine, he didn't care where they went at this point and he was getting sick of driving around the city. But he was intrigued by the fact that Brian had not been at the store. He guessed the guy could go out all he wanted but what with working two jobs Dom had figured he would be home sleeping.  
  
Vince had packed his 9mm and his shotgun into the truck of Jesse's car and he left them there for the time being when they got to the club. They went into the yard and asked around. No one had seen the 'snowman' or his red truck. They thanked Hector and marvelled at the fact this was the only club in town where all the action happened in the parking lot. They pretended to leave but really circled around the back and when they saw the red truck they killed the lights and engine.  
  
"Jesse, you stay here and keep an eye out for company, if you get any call us on the two way." Dom gave the instructions. He was shocked to find Brian's truck here, he couldn't think of any good reason for that.  
  
"Right Dom." Jesse slid down low in the seat and started to keep watch.  
  
Vince grabbed his gun, tucking it into the waist of his jeans then grabbed the shotgun. He turned to start up the alley.  
  
"Is all that firepower really necessary Vince? This is just Brian, not an army of Trans." Dom didn't want Vince to act first and think later as he was so prone to doing.  
  
"I am not going after this guy without weapons Dom. He is a cop. Can't you see it? He is trying to find out where the civics that are popping those trucks are stashed."  
  
"Shut up Vince. Don't talk about that around here. I don't think that Brian is smart enough to be a cop, and I think he is more then likely here to steal a car or two. He is probably right back into his old tricks of boosting cars. That's what he did time for in Arizona. He figures he needs the money for his car and for race wars."  
  
"Where the hell is he going to sell Hector's crappy Civic? The thing is so well known that no one would buy it anyway."  
  
"If he puts in on a truck or a ship and sends it to another state it would sell for a pretty good amount I think."  
  
"Fine let's go find the guy and see what we come up with."  
  
"You go look, I'll wait here to keep an eye out for anyone who comes around."  
  
"Fine with me Dominic, I'll see what I can find."  
  
"And Vince?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"No matter what you find don't kill him till you bring him back here to speak to me, got it?"  
  
"Fine." Vince said with an exasperated sigh.  
  
Vince walked around the building just in time to see Brian jump down off the roof. He was not boosting cars down off the roof so why was he in there then? Because he was a fucking cop, that's why, Vince though. Dom was so misjudging this one. What did he see in Spilner that made him want to trust the guy? The team was fine the way it was, they didn't need this guy. And Vince happened to know that Hector had three Honda Civics in that garage. Now why would Brian be interested in three Honda Civics? Vince asked himself rhetorically.  
  
Vince knocked him out with the butt of the shotgun just before he could jump off the ladder on his own. He never even saw it coming. He dragged him by his collar over to where Dom was waiting in the shadows.  
  
"Found the fucker climbing off the roof of Hector's garage, not a stolen car in sight." Dom gave Vince a look to shut up.  
  
"Brian, this is one of those times when you need to be very clear about what you say to me. Nod if you understand." Dom was starting to believe Brian was up to something but still had a hard time believing he was a cop. Brian didn't move, he was frozen with fear at the sight of Vince with a shotgun trained on him. He didn't trust Vince, he thought he was a big stupid guy who would pull the trigger without a second thought.  
  
"Nod!" Vince yelled and Brian figured he better do it or risk having his head blown off.  
  
"What the hell are you doing down here?" Dom asked after telling Brian to sit up.  
  
"He moans like a cop." Vince was so sure Brian was a cop. "He's a cop!" Vince shouted.  
  
"You a cop?" Dom asked Brian. Brian shook his head no.  
  
Brian gave some story about how he had to know what cars people had because he couldn't afford to lose again. Vince was not buying it. Dom seemed to but not totally.  
  
"So you're telling me you were going to drive around and check everyone's shit out?" Brian nodded. "Let's go for a little drive." They headed for the car and headed for Tran's garage.  
  
They again left Jesse to watch and went in. Again they found Honda Civics only with no motors. Vince called Dom over to look at this.  
  
"What are they planning on racing with? Hopes and dreams?" Dom asked no one in particular. Vince looked around for Brian and found him snooping in the back of the garage. Before he could draw Dom's attention to this the two way rang.  
  
"Jesse."  
  
"Dom you have a wolf pack headed your way fast, it's Tran."  
  
They all hid in the back and found out where the engines were.  
  
"Guess a couple of Nissan SR20 engines will pull a premium right before race wars wont they Ted."  
  
They watched as Tran proceeded to assault the fence named Ted who dared to steal their engines. The Trans were ruthless, and should not be messed with.  
  
Vince had noticed Brian's interest in the stacks of DVD players and he was move convinced then ever that Brian was a cop sent to figure out who was popping the trucks. That spelled trouble for them if Dom insisted on letting him get close to them. The Trans left and the crew drove Brian back to his truck. On the way back to the house Vince and Jesse tried to convince Dom that Brian was a cop but Dom wasn't having it. Vince and Jesse shared a look and Vince could feel that Jesse figured that he was over reacting too. Man how much more evidence did they need that the guy was a cop? He was sniffing around garages, checking out Civics, trying to get close to Dom, who everyone knew, knew everything there was to know about street racing and it's world. Not that the people jacking the trucks had to be racers but the victims and witnesses had seen Letty's crazy driving and knew it was someone who could drive.  
  
When they got home it was 12am and the girls were playing video games in the living room. Vince walked over to them and stood over Nyssa who was laying on the floor. The game ended then and she looked up at him and smiled.  
  
"Hey V, how was your boys night out."  
  
"Fine, you ready for bed?"  
  
"No, it's only 12. I'm not tired yet. I'm hungry to tell you the truth."  
  
"Well let's go for a drive then, I gotta get away from this for awhile."  
  
Nyssa had no idea what he had to get away from since he was supposed to have just had a night out with his boys but she was hungry and he could be convinced to take her to Wendy's while they were out. She stood up and Vince checked her out. Her hair was down and she was wearing a little leather skirt and a white tank top. She looked too good to be true after the frustrating evening he had. He practically pulled her out to the car and then roared off. He wanted to get away before Dom wanted to talk. He couldn't hear anything more about how there was nothing wrong with Spilner.  
  
"So you wanna tell me what is eating you? Or is it a secret?"  
  
"Yes it's a secret but I'm going to tell you anyway, just not in a lot of detail."  
  
"Ok. Whatever will make you turn back to a normal colour and not have an aneurism."  
  
Vince gave her a dirty look and turned in the direction of Wendy's, without even asking he knew she wanted a large frosty with a straw and nachos. That is what she always wanted at this hour of the night.  
  
He started his story. "We decided to follow Brian this evening to see if we could catch him at anything. Well I made Dom do it, he didn't want to, and we caught him down snooping in Hectors garage. Seems Brian was snooping in every garage were Civics are stashed." Vince went on to tell her that she might have heard about the truck robberies on the news and how Vince thought that Brian was hoping to find out that the team was doing it. And that even after all that Dom still didn't believe Vince that Brian was a cop.  
  
"Maybe he's not a cop. Maybe he just wants in on the money from the trucks and he wants to figure out what team's doing it. Maybe he figured Dom would know and he could get the info out of Dom, but when that was taking too long he started to snoop to find out what team he should suck up to next."  
  
Vince gave her a look that clearly said he knew how many holes that story had. She looked back and told him maybe he was right and Brian was a cop. Even if he was then what? She wanted to know what they could do. Vince told her he didn't know but they had to do something. It occurred to Vince that Nyssa seemed to get how important this was and he knew in that second she had known it was his team jacking the trucks. She never let on she knew to anyone. Well so far as he knew.  
  
"So when did you figure it out?"  
  
"Figure what out V?"  
  
"That it was us."  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about baby." She ruffled his hair even more then it already was.  
  
"Yes you do, you've known for awhile it is our team popping the trucks but you never let on or anything. When did you figure it out?"  
  
She took a big drink of frosty, which he loved, because you were supposed to eat them but she drank hers, and thought about her answer for a second. "You really want to know Vince, or would it be better to pretend I don't know and you don't know that I do, don't know. Man that was a confusing statement. But I think you understand what I mean."  
  
"Ya, I get what you are trying to get at but I still wanna know."  
  
"I figured it out the morning after the one you did with me living with you. It all fit too perfectly. I mean you couldn't sleep and did something strenuous enough to open up your cut the night a truck got hijacked and I heard about it on the news on the way to school. Letty must be the one that does the crazy shit like driving under the trailers eh?"  
  
"You got that right. Don't let on you know ok?"  
  
"Sure, I would have been just as happy not to know. I would rather think you are just out driving cause you can't sleep then out risking your life hijacking trucks." "Why didn't you say anything sooner? And does it bother you?"  
  
"I didn't say anything cause it was none of my business, and yes it bothers me just because it is so fucking dangerous it blows my mind and I don't want to think about what could happen to you. What is your role in the whole thing?"  
  
"You probably don't want to know."  
  
"Now you have to tell me Vince, it will be worse not to know."  
  
"I'm the one that climbs onto the truck."  
  
"Oh Jesus, why did I ask? Man, I never want to talk about it again, you're crazy. Let's stop here for awhile." She said beside a beach with no one around. He asked her why. She told him because people would believe the story they were out having sex in the car more so if they looked the part. Vince had no problems with that. It was an hour later they arrived home looking dishevelled and no one asked anything as they headed down to bed but they all shared one of those looks. 


	23. Stay in the office

Is anyone still reading this story? Just wondering, it hardly gets any reviews, hint hint those of you who are reading it. Is it still going in ways that please you? Let me know! On with the story.  
  
Chapter 23 - Stay in the Office!  
  
Nyssa was finally finished of school and she spent most of her days down with Letty at the garage, learning the receptionist job and basic stuff like oil changes. Brian's car was almost, well, a car again, and Dom and he seemed closer then ever, much to Vince's continued anger. When ever Vince was not with her at the garage working he would nearly always come by for lunch with her. He always barely managed not to beat Brian's face in but he did restrain himself, much to the amazement of the Team. They figured it was cause he didn't want to disappoint Nyssa.  
  
The day that she would have to race for the first time against strangers was set for that Saturday. She was nervous out of her mind. Vince told her she was ready to go and had nothing to be nervous about. Nyssa had a hard time remembering what life was like without Vince in it. She thought she loved the big guy but she wasn't sure. She never really loved anyone like that before and she didn't know what it felt like. Plus she wasn't sure if he cared for her that way. He seemed to miss her and he looked out for her, took her side in arguments and just a million other little things that let her know he cared.  
  
It was about two weeks after the truck discussion that her cousin Manda came down to the shop and told her that the cousins were all going out to this club on Friday and they wanted her to come. Nyssa had no id being only 19 but she really wanted to go. She looked around for the Team and they were all back in the garage, she figured no one should be able to hear her right now. She told Manda she wanted to go but she had no way to get in. Manda pulled out her purse and handed Nyssa an id card. It had Nyssa's picture but that was not her name or her address, or her real birthday. This id said she was 22.  
  
"Manda, this id is fake." Wait a second she thought. "This is a fake id." She squealed and hugged her cousin. "How did you get this?"  
  
"I know a guy that makes them. You can get into the club with that. I got one too. So you coming with us now?"  
  
"Of course, wouldn't miss it. I just need a story to tell Vince, he hates it when I drink." She told her cousin the story of why and Manda laughed. "So that is this Friday, like tomorrow night right?"  
  
"Yep, tomorrow night. You should just tell these guys you're staying at my house for the night since it has been so long, then just stay over after. Then you don't have to come home here drunk."  
  
"I don't know about that Manda, I find it hard to sleep alone now. I can get ready at your place though. Then we can drive over to one of the girls houses so your mom and dad don't get catch on to what we are doing. You know they would freak."  
  
"You got that right."  
  
"It's set then, I'll head over to your place around 7 tomorrow night, then we will get all ready to go and go to, say, Janet's. Then we can head down from there. I'll come home after though."  
  
"Sounds like a plan. I'll go home to Janet's cause I can't go home to my house wasted."  
  
"OK, see you tomorrow."  
  
Manda walked out just as Dom walked up front and asked who that was. Nyssa told him it was just her cousin, came to say hello since they hadn't seen each other since grad night. Dom nodded. She told him she wanted to take off soon and go shopping. He told her she could feel free to go then, nothing was coming in or going out for the rest of the day, they were going to work on finishing Brian's car.  
  
She left, ran home and got changed. She headed to the mall and bought a new outfit. She bought a top that looked like a full shirt from the front but the back was just three straps and the sleeves were slit the whole length of her arm with just three straps holding them closed. The hem was just above her belly button. It was purple shot with silver threads. She picked a pair of black leather pants that rode so low on her hips she was scared they wouldn't stay up that had flairs that hid her boots right to the floor. She was happy with the outfit.  
  
She went home and helped Mia cook dinner. It was all she could do not to tell them all she was so excited. She figured she would have to tell Vince something or he would go looking for her. He was fairly protective of her. She loved that about him but it would ruin everything if he came and drug her home. They finished eating and went to watch a movie. Brian came over for that and sat with Mia on the other couch, Dom and Letty were together in the big chair, Jesse and Leon stretched out on the floor and she and Vince took the first couch.  
  
She told him about her plans for the next evening. She told him she was going to meet Manda and do some shopping and watch some movies, just girl stuff, but it would be late before she got home. Vince told her that was fine. He leaned over and whispered to her that they were pulling a job that night at around 3 am. She gave him that look he hated. He knew she hated them doing this, not cause it was illegal but cause she worried about him. They were onto a big job though and Dom wouldn't listen to them that it was time to stop. Vince figured that after the big one he was out for awhile either way. They would have to pick someone else. His bank account had more money in it then he ever figured he would see anyway. He had more then enough to live any way he wanted and never worry about money again right now. But they did get off on the rush. He figured they were adrenaline junkies anyway, who else races cars on the street for thrills. But now he had more to live for and he didn't want to go to jail.  
  
After the movie Nyssa told them she was going to bed. This was weird because she never went to bed before 2 now that school was over. They all got it when Vince followed her after about 5 minutes. Dom hoped Vince didn't tire himself out. Brian and Mia went for a drive and the rest of the team started to make plans. Letty asked Dom when they were going to tell Nyssa what they were up to. Dom told her not till after racewars. No one was to say anything to either new person till after wars. Letty thought they should tell Nyssa now because she lived with them and she was dating Vince. Vince was very directly involved, Mia just knew about it. Dom told her no. Leon told them Nyssa already knew. Dom just looked at him.  
  
"Well I didn't tell her, I just get a feeling she knows already."  
  
"How do you figure she knows anything, and who would have told her?"  
  
"Well, she's smart Dom, you saw the marks she graduated with, she's as smart as Mia. And the way she looks at Vince on the nights before a job, she looks so worried and desperate I just think she knows. That's why they went to bed early. He's going to tell her it'll be fine and she'll cry, they'll make up, you know how it is."  
  
"You could be right. Well if she figured it out then she figured it out but no one talks about it in the open till after wars and no one mentions anything at all around Brian. I trust him but he hasn't proven himself enough to be trusted with this.  
  
"Vince you need to promise me you'll be careful."  
  
"I'm always careful Nys, I'll be fine, It'll be fine. Dom's been talking about surprising Letty with a trip after the next one, and we'll go with them ok? You and me, the beach, no garage, no trucks, just the two of us. Ok?" She was looking at the floor, he tipped her head back and she looked him in the eye. "It'll be fine Nys, I swear."  
  
She kissed him and he felt all the worry and the fear in her kiss. He tried to put all his confidence in his kiss. They went to bed and he set the alarm for 2:45am. She told him to wake her and say good bye before he left and he tried to tell her she should sleep and then he would be home before she knew he was gone. She made him promise he would wake her and he finally relented. The alarm went off and he got up. Nyssa always slept through the alarm. He was tempted to just let her keep sleeping and not wake her but he had promised and he didn't want to catch the hell that would be coming his way if he didn't tell her he was leaving. He woke her up gently.  
  
"I'm going now baby. I'll be home around 7am."  
  
"V, be careful, and come home in one piece please."  
  
"I plan on it girl. I'll see you soon. I'll bring you some of those rolls with the chocolate you like for breakfast. See you soon. Go to sleep and I'll be home before you know it."  
  
"Ok, Vince." He kissed her goodbye and left. She went back to sleep. Vince met Leon and Jesse in the living room downstairs. They confronted him that Nyssa knew and he told them she did, that she had figured it out, that he hadn't told her. They asked what she thought. He told them that she hated it cause she was scared that one time someone wouldn't come back and considering what his role was she was scared it would be him. Otherwise she didn't care. She didn't try to make him stop or anything. They all headed upstairs. Dom had told the guys to try to find out if Nyssa knew or not and Leon nodded at Dom. Dom understood Leon was saying she did know. They headed out and did the job. It went smoothly.  
  
Brian got a phone call on his cell around 5am.  
  
"They struck again, we roll on Tran unless you say otherwise, if you agree just say yes."  
  
"Ya." Brian couldn't prove it wasn't Tran, but he hoped against hope it wasn't Dom.  
  
"Who was that?" A sleepy Mia asked from the other side of his bed.  
  
"A wrong number. Hi."  
  
Vince got the breakfast he promised Nyssa and went home and woke her up. They ate together in bed. Then Vince went to sleep. She got dressed and headed upstairs. She was going to go down to the garage and wash her car. She found Dom in the kitchen. Damn, why was that boy not in bed she asked herself. She didn't want to deal with him right now. He still scared her in that she couldn't read him as well as she could normally read people. She wasn't sure of herself around him. He said good morning. She told him he looked like hell, which was true and asked him if he wanted breakfast. Considering when Mia got home last night she would not be making it. Dom declined and asked her to sit down. She did, with great trepidation, because she had half an idea where this was going. He knew she knew. What would he do about it?  
  
He asked her point blank when she figured it out and how. She told him about hearing about the job on the news in the morning on her way to school and how Vince's missing time and how tired and sore he was that morning and how he had opened his cut had fallen into place and how the stunt driving just reeked of Letty. She assured him that it made no difference to her and she would never tell because she, well, didn't care, and would not want Vince or any of them to get in trouble. But she worried about them all and couldn't see it being safe. Dom nodded and told her she was likely too smart for her own good but not to say anything to Brian. She told Dom she agreed with Vince that Brian was likely to be a cop. Dom just grunted, he just didn't see it.  
  
She told him she was heading to the garage if he didn't want anything. He didn't so she left. She went down to the garage but no one was there. She figured she better open up so at least she would be able to tell people that they weren't taking any bookings right now. She was leaning on the counter when the little bell over the door rang to let her know that someone had entered the shop.  
  
She looked up and saw a very well dressed man walk in. He looked around the little reception area then walked up to her.  
  
"I'm looking for Dom Torreto." The man said.  
  
"Dom's not here right now, would you like to leave a message?"  
  
"No, this is important, I need to speak to him now."  
  
"Well, he's home sick right now, so you can leave a message or come back later."  
  
"You must know how to reach him, just do so and tell him that Colin is here to see him. He'll come down."  
  
"Fine, I'll call him, but if he's not happy you're dealing with him anyway."  
  
"Yes, fine, fine, just call him please."  
  
Nyssa turned around and went into Dom's office were the man could not hear her but she could still see him through the window of the office and called home. Dom answered on the second ring. He could never sleep after a job, she knew that, if she thought he was asleep nothing could have made her call.  
  
"Hello." Dom said, and Nyssa could tell he was in pissy humour. "Heya Dom. It's Nyssa."  
  
"What's up?" Dom sounded somewhat less grumpy when he thought it might involve his precious shop.  
  
"Some guy is here saying that he has to see you. I told him you were sick at home but he won't take no for an answer."  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
"He claims his name is Colin and said you would want to see him."  
  
"Ah shit. Yea I'll be right down. And Nyssa?"  
  
"Ya Dom?"  
  
"If you're in my office now, just stay there. Even better, here, talk to Jesse." Dom handed off the phone to Jesse and Nyssa heard him tell Jesse to keep her on the phone till she told him that Dom was in the shop. Jesse came on the line. 


	24. I got the guy

Chapter 24 - I got the guy  
  
"Who's there Nyssa?"  
  
"Some guy named Colin. Do you know why Dom wouldn't want me to be around him?"  
  
"Only cause he is just not a very nice man. He and Dom do some business together but he's kind of a mean jerk." Colin was the guy who got them into the trucks.  
  
"I see. Well then I am glad I called Dom and didn't just tell the guy to get out if he didn't want to make an appointment."  
  
"It's good that you called. Is Dom there yet?"  
  
"Yeah, he just pulled up now."  
  
"Ok, I'm going to give it 10 minutes then head down to finish that Evo anyway ok?"  
  
"Sure see you soon."  
  
Nyssa stayed in the office till Dom and the man went outside. Then she ran out to the service bays and waited for Jesse. He arrived and they worked on the car while they waited for Dom to come back in. Dom came back and called Jesse over. Nyssa took the K&N filter to clean. She watched them talk out of the corner of her eye while she used compressed air to blow the filter clean. Letty had taught her basic stuff like this so she could help out while it was busy out back but not up front. She could flush the cooling systems, do oil changes, change filters and bulbs, install neon kits, and put cars on hoists now. She was learning more every day. She noticed Dom did not look at all happy. She finished with the filter and went to reinstall it on the car where she hopped to be able to hear them talk.  
  
She picked up a few words like heist and big and moved. She figured that the next truck was going to be a big payoff and the guy, Colin, had changed the date on them. Oh well the sooner the better as far as she was concerned because Vince had promised her that he was stopping for a long vacation after this last big job. She was sort of day dreaming about her and Vince in a warm climate with nothing to do but drive too fast, drink too much, and lie on a warm, white sandy beach all day when she realized that Dom was talking to her. She snapped out of it and admitted that she had been zoned out and missed whatever he had been saying.  
  
Dom sighed and told her that he wanted her to go get lunch for them all. Leon and Letty had shown up while she was off in la la land. She frowned at him. She hated being used as an errand girl. She was about to tell Dom just that and he saw the belligerent look on her face and held up his hand. He told her not to even bother because she was going like it or not, Mia was expecting her. She shook her head and told him that they should go get there own damn sandwiches. Dom pointed at the door. She figured he wanted to talk to the team about whatever Colin had told him and wanted her out. She snatched up her keys and slammed out to her mustang. She hadn't bothered putting the top down on the way to the garage but she did now.  
  
She fired up her car and backed out of the DT parking lot. She roared down the street to the house. If they were going to make her get lunch they could darn well wait while she went to see if Vince was up yet. She pulled into the driveway that was for once devoid of cars but for Vince's and her Skyline. She looked on the main floor for Vince and he wasn't around. He was down stairs, just pulling on his shirt when she opened the door to the room. She said good morning and threw herself down on the bed with a frown. Vince asked her what was wrong and she told him that Dom had made her go on a lunch run so she decided to make them wait while she went to see if he was up yet or not.  
  
Since Dom knew that Vince normally went to pick up lunch for them when he headed down that was strange. Nyssa filled him in on the fact that Dom had gotten an unexpected visit from Colin that day and Vince swore softly. He turned to Nyssa and told her they would go get the lunch from Mia and take it to the garage together. They took Nyssa's mustang again cause it was a beautiful day and it was nice to drive around with the top down.  
  
They stayed and chatted with Mia for awhile and then took the food back to DT. She was gone about an hour all together. When she walked back into the garage with Vince Dom gave her a dirty look.  
  
"I thought you ran away cause you were mad at me or something. The store is only like ten minutes away from here.  
  
"Well first I had to go see Vince, and tell him I got lunch today, then I had to visit with Mia at the store. That all takes time you know."  
  
"Bout time you got back anyways."  
  
Everyone started to eat but Dom pulled Vince into the office and shut the door. Dom told Vince that Colin had moved the job up a bit and it was going to be on the first night of racewars instead. Vince just nodded. That was fine with him. But he told Dom that the talk of a vacation after this big job better not have been all talk cause Vince was ready to not do this for awhile at least. Dom thought about that for a second and said Letty and Mia were after him to stop too. Dom said they all had lots of money now and they could always start doing it again if they had to. Vince said that made sense and the two guys went to join the others in lunch.  
  
Nyssa went up front again after lunch and just stood at the counter waiting. There were people coming to pick up their cars soon so she figured she would just hang around up front till that happened. She was trying to plan how to go to Manda's. Did she get all dressed up and go or did she put everything she needed to get ready in a bag and wear sweats over there so they wouldn't suspect anything. She was also figuring she would have to stay at Janet's with Manda unless she wanted to tell at least Vince what she had been up to. Plus she didn't want to take her car over to Manda's because she was not going to be in any shape to drive herself home.  
  
She figured she would take the Mustang over to Manda's and just leave it there over night. She would take all her stuff in her kitbag and would take night clothes and a change of clothes just in case she decided not to come home that night. She had just made her mind up about that when a very hot guy walked into the garage.  
  
She smiled at him and asked him how she could help him. She might be totally into Vince but she figured she would have to be dead not to appreciate how good looking his guy was. He was about 6 feet tall, built like a basketball player or track star. He smiled back at her. He told her he was here for his car. She asked him what car it was. He told her a green Evo IV. She told him she knew just the one and she figured it was done, but told him to hang on a sec while she went to check it out.  
  
She went back into the shop and the first thing she did was went over to Letty and told her to try to steal a look at the hottie in the reception area. Letty walked over to the window and looked in at him. She made the wow face and shook her hand as if to say the guy was hot. Nyssa blinked at her then went over to Jesse and asked him if the Evo was ready yet. Jesse told her it was. She got the keys and the work order from him and went back into the reception area.  
  
She told the guy his car was ready he was just paying her and making small talk when Vince walked into the room. Nyssa was laughing at something the guy had just said and he was smiling at her. She complimented his car and he started to tell her about it. She was smiling up at him in a friendly way because he was as into his car as they were, and it was a nice car. Vince stood back in the doorway and watched them talk. He thought that punk was checking out his girl and he wasn't happy 'bout it. He walked all the way into the room and grabbed her from behind in a bear hug.  
  
"How's it goin' babe?" Vince asked Nyssa, with a pointed look at the other man.  
  
"Good V. Oh, Vince, this is Chad, Chad this is my um, well." She didn't know what to call Vince in her life. They had never had that discussion. She didn't want to call him her boyfriend and scare him.  
  
"Her boyfriend." Vince finished. Well that question was answered she guessed.  
  
"Yea, Chad was just telling me about his car, that green Evo we have out back. He's never raced it yet and wants to start." Nyssa told Vince.  
  
"Oh ya, can the car handle it?" Chad ran down the way his car was kitted out. Vince nodded. "So you've really never raced before? With any car or just this one?"  
  
"Never man. I have always wanted to but I just got the money to buy the car and get it ready recently. So I heard LA is the place to go."  
  
Vince nodded. "Well, there's races tomorrow night, if you can figure out where they are then you can race." They didn't just tell anyone where races were, people had to want it bad enough to find it. Chad nodded.  
  
"Well Nyssa, thanks for everything, and tell Jesse thanks too for me ok?"  
  
"Sure. By the way, if you can find races tomorrow, I know for a fact there is a junior race for people who have never raced, or people who have never won before. You want to pick a race where you are not racing someone like Dominic cause you'll have your ass handed to you." Nyssa told Chad.  
  
"Thanks for the tip, I'll do my research to find the spot."  
  
"Good luck."  
  
Chad collected his car and left, after talking to Jesse for a few minutes about his car. Jesse thought the car had potential but was never going to be a high class contender unless Chad put a lot more time and money into the mods.  
  
Vince asked Nyssa what was up with the guy that they had been talking for so long. She told Vince he was just a nice guy who was new to LA and didn't know anyone so she figured he was lonely and they talked cars for awhile. Vince seemed to accept that. She looked at the clock.  
  
"Shit, I gotta go grab my stuff and head to Manda's, she's waiting on me." They sometimes kept strange hours at the garage, getting in late and staying late and it was already 6:30. She had her stuff in the car already so she just had to drive to Manda's. She jumped into the car and headed to her cousin's house. She was so excited. She had never done anything like this before.  
  
She pulled up into the driveway and got out of the car. She put the top up since she had taken the mustang this time to try and not get more grief from her aunt. She realized she was wearing her greasy shop clothes but it was too late to do anything about that now. She headed around the back of the house and her aunt and uncle were sitting in the back yard.  
  
"Well Nyssa it is nice to see you driving an appropriate car this time but what in heaven's name are you wearing?"  
  
"Oh, sorry Aunt Karen, I was running late at DT and didn't have time to change. Sometimes I do minor work on the cars and today was one of those days. I have clean clothes with me."  
  
"Come give your uncle a hug Nyssa, it is always good to see you." Her uncle said. She loved her uncle, he was just a slightly less fun version of her father. But he was just as nice. She ran up to him and he stood up and caught her up in a hug. "You look good. This Vince character treating you well?"  
  
"He's so sweet. He told some guy he was my boyfriend today. I didn't even have to tell him he was my boyfriend, he just volunteered. And he is always bringing me little treats and stuff. He's great." Other then the fact he hijacks trucks and street races and does some other illegal activities on the side, she though, but he is still sweet. She figured that had to count for something.  
  
"Well that's good Nyssa. You'll have to bring him over for dinner with us and Manda some day. Manda can bring whatever guy she is seeing at the moment." John was clearly not happy with the fact his daughter changed boyfriends like some girls changed their hair color.  
  
"It sounds good to me but I'll have to run it by Vince. Let me know when you have a day picked out and I'll ask him, OK? Daddy still wants to meet him too."  
  
"Well I insist on meeting all of Manda's dates myself so I can't say I blame him, but I can see why this situation is different."  
  
"Now, Uncle John, if I bring Vince here you can't give him the tenth degree or anything."  
  
"Of course not sweetie, now run into the house, Manda has been excited about this girls night all week."  
  
"Me too, see you guys later." Nyssa ran into the house and up to Manda's room. She opened the door and she and Manda looked at each other for a second then squealed and hugged and did a little dance around.  
  
"I can't believe we are going to do this." Nyssa was nervous but excited. She didn't know what she thought would happen. What could happen? The club could figure her ID was fake and not let her in but that was just going to be embarrassing. She didn't think anything could come of it once she was in.  
  
"I know, it's crazy but it's going to be fun." Manda figured it would be fine if they got in too.  
  
The girls got ready. Manda loved Nyssa's new pants. Manda wore black lowriders and a sliver top like a bra but with fring on the bottom to just above her navel. Both girls wore black boots with huge heels. Then they both pulled on sweaters to hide their outfits from Manda's parents while they left the house. They did their hair and makeup. Nyssa and Manda both left their hair down. Both had hair to the small of her back, but one was strait and blonde while the other was almost black and curly. Then they did their makeup. They then headed out to the car. They told Manda's parents they were going to the mall then to Janet's and it could be really late before they got back. Manda's parents said that was fine.  
  
They took Manda's car since Manda planned on Crashing at Janet's anyway. Manda drove a Mercedez convertible. Her parents were loaded. They put the top down and played the music loud the whole way to Janet's. They arrived and armed the security system of the car and walked in. Janet greeted them and then they sat down and started to drink. Nyssa was bummed there was no corona. Janet told her they didn't drink beer. She made her a tequila sunrise. *Ah tequila my old friend* Nyssa thought as she drank her drink. It was nicer to have mixed drinks then strait tequila. She told Janet about the last night she drank tequila.  
  
"And we all thought you didn't have it in you to get crazy." Janet said.  
  
"Well I got the guy in the end so it was worth it." Nyssa replied. 


	25. You gotta get outa here!

vandanell-flash doesn't get hangovers, remember? ;) Are you callin her that because of her dance routine with Letty? If so that's clever. I might have to work that into later chatpers, like V starts callin' her flash. Of course it can have two meanings because she's starting to get good at racing. Very cute. Thanks for the compliment on my boys. I can't wait to take the rex out and teach the ricers a lesson on Saturday nights :) His engine'll be all rebuilt by this weekend. I could dance I'm so excited. Anyway, on to the story.  
  
Chapter 25 - You gotta get outa here.  
  
The other girls all arrived and there ended up being about 20 of them all together. Nyssa thought it looked like a Barbie Doll convention in the house while they partied and danced, waiting till a fashionable time to head down to the club. But the girls were all nice, even if some of them were a little air headed. They headed down to the club around 12. Nyssa and Manda both got in no trouble.  
  
It was a new club and it was awesome inside. The tables around the edge of the dance floor were made of clear plastic and they were lit inside with neon lights. The walls were black. The dance floor was also lit up with a light show in time to the music. The place was lit at the ceiling with black lights and the girls with white on were glowing. The bars served all the drinks in neon coloured cups that glowed under the black lights. Nyssa was almost over whelmed. She should have invited Letty.  
  
They all bought a drink and headed out to dance. They all danced together as a group but random guys would cut in on them. Some guy started to dance with Nyssa. She figured what can a little dance hurt and danced along with him. It was fun. She realized it was Chad from the shop. That song ended and then she started to dance with Manda. She didn't want to dance with any one guy too long in case they got ideas about her being into them or something. She didn't see the other guy in the corner watching her.  
  
This was a street racer club, it was where a lot of the people who didn't go to Hector's club came. So a lot of the guys here knew Dom and his team and had seen her with Dom at last race night or at his shop. Cause Dom worked on a lot of racer's cars when they didn't have the knowledge to do it themselves or they just wanted it done by the best. They had all heard she was Vince's girlfriend but had just seen her dance with another guy.  
  
The guy watching her knew damn well she was Vince's girlfriend. It was Brian. He was here to try to get info out of the racers, to see if anyone knew anything about the trucks. He hadn't come up with anything yet. He did happen to know that this club was getting raided by the LAPD later because it was fairly new and the cops liked to make sure that they were checking id's and not serving minors. And since he knew for a fact that Nyssa and her cousin were underage he knew they were in for it. Especially since he had seen them order drinks no fewer then 4 times. He had to get Nyssa out of here before she got hauled downtown.  
  
But on the other hand that would mean that Dom and the team would know he had been out tonight and might wonder what he had been doing down here. Since he was seeing Mia it might look like he came down here to try to pick up another girl. Or like he was snooping again. After they had caught him at El Gato Negro he didn't know how they would react to knowing he was at another racer bar. At least Nyssa was too drunk to ask questions. Well if the Team ever found out he was here and could have saved her from getting hauled in then he would never live it down. He stood up and walked her way.  
  
He cut in on her and her cousin. He told her she shouldn't be here.  
  
"Oh shit, I mean hi Brian. How's it goin?"  
  
"Fine, till I saw my girl's underage friend was dancing on the dance floor of a licensed club."  
  
"I know Brian, but chill out. I got it all covered." She showed him the ID, proud as could be.  
  
"This is fake."  
  
"Well I know that and you know that but the doorman didn't know that." "Nyssa you have to go. Ok? Take your cousin and anyone else you brought with you that is underage and leave ok?"  
  
"No, I don't want to go." Nyssa stamped her foot and pouted at Brian.  
  
Brian grabbed her arm and drug her to the hall were the bathrooms were. It was quieter there and he had to reason with her. "You've gotta go. I know some people downtown and this place is gettin' raided tonight. Any cop will know that is a fake id and you're goin downtown if they catch you in here with that id."  
  
"Oh shit. I gotta get Manda. She is the only other underage one in the group."  
  
"Go get her and meet me out front. I'm not drinking so I'll drive you guys home."  
  
"Ok, thanks Brian."  
  
"OK, go and get her and meet me out front." He checked his watch. "You have like 5 minutes, GO."  
  
Nyssa took off and found Manda. Nyssa told her they had to go now. Manda started to protest and Nyssa told her to shut up and dragged her out into the night air in front of the club and looked for the red truck Brian drove. She saw the truck off down the street a little. She made Manda sit in the middle and just as Nyssa sat in the truck about 5 cop cars squealed up.  
  
"Oh shit." Both girls said as the cops blocked the door so no one could get out but past them. "Thanks Brian. That would be all either of us needed.  
  
"I didn't want Dom to find out I let you get taken in when I could have stopped it. I'm taking you guys to Dom's now though."  
  
"No, we need to go to Janet's. That is where we are staying tonight."  
  
"No way. I'm taking you to Dom's. I'm not leaving you anywhere else. Do I look crazy to you?"  
  
"I wonder if Vince would find it interesting that you knew the cops were coming before they even showed up? Do you think that piece of info would interest him and Dom Manda?"  
  
"Oh definitely Nys, I think that Vince and Dom would find that fascinating."  
  
"That's dirty girls, I saved your asses back there and you guys know it." Brian was terrified that if they did find that out it would blow his cover. It had come close enough to happening when they caught him at Hector's club. The girls shared a look.  
  
"Here's the deal Brian. You take Manda home to Janet's. She doesn't have to be involved in this. Then I let you take me home to Dom's. But you tell him that we ran into you at a house party. You can say you know our cousin Janet and you ran into us there. Then since you hadn't had anything to drink in a long time you offered me a drive home. Then they don't need to know that I was at that club and they don't need to know that you knew the cops were coming."  
  
"Fine, as long as you go home to Dom's Nyssa."  
  
"Fine, I'll go home to Dom's." Manda gave her a grateful look.  
  
So they dropped Manda off at Janet's and Nyssa got her bag. Then she hopped back in the truck with Brian and they headed for Dom's. It was like 2am by this time. She told Brian if Vince was mad about getting woken up at this hour she was blaming him.  
  
She needn't have worried. The team was still up in the living room. She walked in and sat on the floor with Letty. Vince asked her why she came home with Brian, almost spitting out the name Brian, and not in her own car. She told him she went to a party with Manda, to one of her other cousin's houses and she had too much to drink to drive home, so when she saw Brian was there too she asked him for a ride home and he was fine with that.  
  
Letty could tell she was lying and could tell she had more then a little too much to drink. Brian told them all he was going home for the night but would be down at the garage in the morning for awhile. He and Dom were hoping to finish the supra soon.  
  
Letty looked at Nyssa who looked pale and messed up. Nyssa had started to sober up a bit and was realizing she could have ended up bringing cops around Dom's and the thought of how bad that could have ended up hit her. Letty knew Nyssa had to talk about it and plus Letty was just plain curious. She stood up and told Nyssa that they were going to have a good old fashioned girls sleepover upstairs in Letty's room. Why Letty still had her own room was anyone's guess but she did. Nyssa nodded her agreement and the two girls went upstairs.  
  
"What the hell is this all about do you think?" Vince asked the group in general. Everyone shook their heads in the universal I have no idea manner. "Nyssa looked upset didn't she?" Leon and Jesse nodded yes, Dom refused to get into it. "If that fucker Spilner did anything to her I'll kill him." Vince said.  
  
"Come off it Vince, he is so into Mia she could lead him around on a leash. He didn't do anything to Nyssa." Dom said in a tone that said he knew he was stating the obvious and wished Vince saw that too. Vince just frowned his Vince frown they all knew so well.  
  
Upstairs the girls changed into shorts and tanks for bed and Letty started in at Nyssa.  
  
"Ok girl, what really went down, you look like shit, and since we both know you don't get hung over you better tell me what happened tonight."  
  
"Ok Letty, I gotta tell someone anyway or I'll never sleep, and man am I tired. Anyway here's what happened. I didn't go to Manda's for a girl's night of makeup and movies. We went to Manda's cousin on her mom's side, Janet's to get ready. They we had a house party there. Around 12 we went to this new club. My cousins are all racer chasers so the bar they picked was this new one that all the racers go to. That was fine, Manda and I got in with our fake ID's just fine. We were having a great time when Brian comes up to me. Wait a second, you have to promise me none of this makes it out of this room. Promise?"  
  
"Sure I promise, just spill the rest of the story. This is getting good. You should have asked me to go. I have fake id too."  
  
"Next time, but anyways back to the story. So Brian comes up to me and tells me that he just happens to know that LAPD is raiding the place later to make sure they are not serving underage drinkers and that I gotta get out of there before the cops show up. So I grabbed Manda and we high tailed it out of there and got right into Brian's truck. Just as we got in and got down about 5 or 6 cruisers pulled up, locked the place down and started checking ID. Brain says that no matter how good our ID's were the cops would know they were fake."  
  
"Oh shit." Letty was loving this story, she loved action.  
  
"So Brian wouldn't hear of taking us to Manda's. It had to be home to Dom's. Fuck. I had to blackmail him into taking me here and Manda home to Janet's. I had to tell him I would tell Vince, ol Mr. Wile E. Coyote, he knew the cops were coming before they ever arrived if he didn't take Manda home cause she didn't need to be involved in the shit here if it should have hit the fan. Plus her mom and dad would flip out. But I mean Letty. Imagine what would have happened if Brian had not been there. The last thing we need is cops around the place. Vince would kill me, if Dom didn't first."  
  
"Ya, having the cops bring you home wouldn't have been good. Thank god for Brian." Letty hadn't thought of that aspect till Nyssa pointed it out. "How are you making so much sense, you're smashed."  
  
"And you're jealous cause you're sober." Both girls laughed and then went to bed.  
  
Vince tossed and turned for 45 minutes after he went to bed, trying to sleep without Nyssa in his arms and gave up. He trudged upstairs and tiptoed into Letty's room. Both girls were asleep on Letty's double bed. Nyssa was on the side closest to Vince, he thanked god for that. He picked her up carefully and went to leave the room. She moaned in her sleep and wrapped her arms around his neck and put her head on his shoulder. He almost bumped into Dom in the door way.  
  
"You too brotha?" Vince asked Dom. Dom smiled a sheepish grin and grabbed Letty. Both men headed back to their rooms.  
  
Nyssa woke up all disorientated. She thought she was in the bed upstairs with Letty when she went to sleep, not with Vince. She hadn't wanted to sleep with Vince in case he noticed she was not up to par, or exceedingly drunk, and quizzed her. They didn't call him Coyote for nothing. He could get almost all her secrets out of her without even working hard at it. She was sure she had gone to sleep upstairs. She opened her eyes and saw Vince on one elbow staring down at her. She smiled at him and he sorta smiled back. She could tell he was thinking about something and that never boded well for her.  
  
"Morning V. How did I end up down here?" She decided to start with something that would hopefully throw him off the trail of what really happened.  
  
"I knew Dom would go for Lett eventually so I went to get you. You belong down here with me."  
  
"I like Letty. Girls need to dish sometimes without a male present."  
  
"So what'd you guys talk about last night?"  
  
"Wouldn't you like to know?"  
  
"Ya, that's why I asked."  
  
"We talked about cute boys. Letty thought that Chad was a hottie too."  
  
"'Cuse me! Who is Chad?"  
  
"You know, Mr. Evo? Tall, thin..Ring a bell?" She laughed to show him she was kidding then proceeded to show him he was the only man for her. Which also made him forget he had wanted to ask her why she came home drunk and seemingly scared from a girls night at her cousins. 


	26. Winning races and Losing Everything

AN: I'm sorry this is so damn long. I couldn't decide where to stop putting it up and someone asked for Drama. It just so happened that this has been written for like 6 months already but drama was on the horizon so I put part of it up. I hope you all enjoy. Leave a review either way. I need reviews to live.J/K but I love everyone who takes the time to write one. :) Peace out.  
  
Chapter 26 - Winning Races and Losing everything.  
  
They dragged themselves upstairs awhile later. Vince wanted to go over her car once more and go over strategy for that night. Nyssa agreed that it had to be done. She was just as excited about the race as she had been about her night out the night before. She hoped races went better.  
  
They got some lunch then took the car to DT, were Jesse, Leon, and Vince all went over it with a fine tooth comb.  
  
"Needs a new front strut Dawg." Leon said, rolling out from under the car.  
  
"No way Brotha, it handles fine, no noise, no leak." Vince didn't believe him, how could the car need such a major repair without showing any symptoms first.  
  
"Dawg, if I know anything it's Skylines ok? And this one needs a left front strut. The handling would be fine on straight aways, but if it comes to any corners it is not going to be evenly balanced at all."  
  
"God Damn It. I hope Harry has one in stock."  
  
"Better call him. And don't tell him how important it, you know how that fucker jacks up the price if he knows he has you by the balls." Leon looked at Nyssa and blushed for using a phrase like that in front of her. Nyssa just laughed at him.  
  
They called Harry and he had a strut for the car. It was lucky several other models of Nissan took the same part. Nyssa and Vince ran down to "The Racers Edge" in Vince's car. Nyssa asked questions about how tonight would work. She wanted to know if Vince was riding with her down to the meet and with her in races. He told her that he was taking his own car and she didn't need him in the car with her. She was doing ok on her own and she didn't need his 200+ pounds slowing her down. She was going to be racing in her own league so she would do fine. She took that to heart because Vince knew what he was talking about.  
  
They picked up her struts and headed back. Vince told her it was always better to replace struts in pairs. The boys got that done while Dom and Brian finished the supra. It was all ready to go now. Brian fired it up for the first time and it roared to life. Jesse stroked the hood like the cat the car was purring like and Dom and Brain took off with Brian driving like a bat out of hell.  
  
Nyssa didn't want to race against Brian. Vince reassured her that Dom would never do that. He would organize two races instead of having them race each other. Besides Brian had raced before so he wasn't technically a rookie. But he had never won. Vince assured her again Dom would not have her race Brian. She was glad.  
  
They went to have dinner as a team. Dom looked at both Nyssa and Brian and told them both he was expecting great things because he knew that both of them could race. If they won or lost he just wanted to know that they both gave it 110. But he told them there should not be much in the way of competition for either of them. Nyssa was glad to hear that. She had butterflies in her tummy, she had never raced anyone but Letty and Vince. Vince didn't know but she had Letty had street raced at night on the freeway. Letty swore her to silence because she said Dom was lible to spank both of them if he found out. It was fine for him and his guy friends to do crazy shit but not for the girls.  
  
He almost never let Letty race anywhere but race wars. He said it was too dangerous. Letty had told Nyssa to expect the same treatment. Once she had proven she could race and win Dom wouldn't want to let her and she would have to fight for every opportunity. Nyssa was all like but it is my car and my life and he is not even my man, you have that 'honour', but Letty told her that Dom ran the team and if he said she didn't race then even Vince would likely back Dom in that decision.  
  
They all finished eating, listened to the rest of Dom's 'pep' talk and then they got ready for the big night. Nyssa had no idea what to wear. She had to be able to drive which meant comfortable but she still wanted to look good. She didn't want the skanks to get any ideas about Vince. She would fight any of them that messed with her man. She put on the stereo while she thought. Maybe some up beat music would make her decide. She put on a very brief black thong and black bra and kind of danced in front of the closet.  
  
She decided to wear her new low riders from the other night. The black leather pants fit like a glove and just covered the essentials. She smiled devious smile when she realized no one but Letty knew how low they were because it had been cold on the way home from Janet's and she had pulled on a big sweater. Well she had worked damn hard for these flat abs and she was going to show 'em off. The pants had some dragons embroidered up the sides and across the back so they would even match her car. She now needed a shirt.  
  
She picked out a tight baby tee in a semi sheer fabric with a silver dragon on it. It came to about three inches above her navel. She put on her flat boots that still had a three inch sole. She did her makeup simple. Black eyeliner and a touch of silver eye shadow and berry lip gloss. She headed upstairs.  
  
Vince was still in the shower, but Letty, Leon, Mia, Jesse, and Brian were all waiting in the living room. Letty told her she looked good. Letty was dressed similar but her pants weren't quite so low cut and her top was a sheer baby tee over a black bra. Letty's favourite race outfit. Mia wore a tank top and a cute skirt, she was more of a girly girl then Letty and Nyssa. Brian made it a point not to look too long so Mia wouldn't get mad and Vince wouldn't kill him. Letty had to reach over and close Jesse's mouth. Leon wished he had been the one to stop for Nyssa all those weeks ago. Dom came down into the room just then and stopped dead in the doorway.  
  
He seemed to think about what ever he had been going to say and walked into the room. As soon as Vince showed up they were ready. Nyssa sat on the couch between Letty and Mia and the girls all started to chat about tonight. Letty was giving Nyssa some last minute coaching and pointers. She said she would try to give her a few more once she saw what kind of cars Nyssa would have to race. Vince came into the room wearing his stereotypical mesh tank over solid tank and jeans. He looked around and didn't really recognize Nyssa at first. When he realized the foot of exposed tummy belonged to Nyssa he was floored. She thought she was going to races dressed like that.  
  
Well she looked Damn good but man, every guy there would be staring at her if she wore that. He said hi then told her he wanted to talk to her for a sec alone. She figured it was about the race tonight, since he had taught her to drive she figured he would want to give her his own version of the pep talk. She followed him to the kitchen. First he did give her the pep talk. Do your best, listen to the car, remember not to get scared and use NOS too early. Run like hell if the cops came and don't lead them back to the fort, which was code for the house. Then he asked her if she was sure that was what she wanted to wear.  
  
She told him she was sure because she was comfortable. Then with a little of her old insecurities she asked him if she didn't look good. He figured he would have to accept the fact that he would be fighting guys off her all night and not push the issue with her. He told her she looked good. Which coming from Vince was high praise. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. He grabbed her waist.  
  
"Nervous?"  
  
"Some."  
  
"You'll do fine, just remember what you've learned."  
  
"I will. Well, the others'll be waiting on us, I guess we should go."  
  
"I guess. You better win. I know you have it in you."  
  
"What do I get if I do win?"  
  
"Other then half your winnings?"  
  
"Yes other then that."  
  
"Whatever you want." He winked at her.  
  
"I'll remember that." She laughed and they headed back to the living room and told the others they were ready to go. They drove down to the industrial park. In a parking lot right before they all pulled up and made plans for how they would look on arrival. It would go Dom out front, then Leon and Nyssa, then Brian and Letty, then Jesse and Vince. They pulled in and Dom did his little rev it in neutral trick that he did every night and Nyssa and Leon both stopped with a little squeal behind him. They all climbed out. Dom was as usual surrounded by skanks. Letty chased them all off and Dom gave her a dirty look. Leon and Vince had their own little gatherings of racer chasers. Nyssa wasn't going to be so obvious as Letty but she was going to chase them off in her own way.  
  
She pushed her way through to where Vince was sitting on the hood of his car talking to that same blond bitch from the party the last time. The blond smiled cattily at Nyssa at an angle that made sure Vince could not see. Nyssa made sure that Vince and everyone could see her smile and smiled sweetly. She sat down beside him on the hood of the car. She said hey babe and smiled. Vince smiled back even though he knew damn well what she was doing. He was just as glad to have her close dressed like that anyway. He kept talking to the other girls but their hearts weren't in it now that they saw him smile at the other girl. And Nyssa participated in the talking, making comments and laughing. Some of the girls simply hadn't known Vince was taken and those girls liked Nyssa. She was funny and nice. The other girls who had either wanted Vince because he was their type of guy or wanted him because he could get them closer to Dom, hated Nyssa. There were more of the latter then the former.  
  
Dom announced that tonight there would be two races for rookies so with Brian and Nyssa racing for his team, one in each race, he needed between 4 and 6 people who had never raced or at least never won before who had the 500 bucks to buy in. He got 6 people in record time. He put Brian, Hector's little cousin, some chick, and this other guy that was new in the first race.  
  
The lined up the cars and waited for the scanners to clear. Leon announced they were good to roll and Hector started the race. These guys were no competition for the Supra, it was a whole nother league of car compared to the Civic, Integra, and Celica it raced against.  
  
So Brian won easily and was handed the 1500 bucks that he won. He gave it to Dom, since he was racing for Dom, in what was essentially Dom's car. Then Dom told Nyssa to get in her car and get ready to roll. Nyssa ran to the Nissan and got in. She fired it up and just as she was about to pull it out and go follow the other people to the next race site Vince leaned in her window. He told her to be careful but race like a banshee. She laughed and told him she would kick ass. Her car was just as good as Brian's. Brian had more experience but she thought she could take any of the competition if it was going to be more like Brian had.  
  
She pulled out and followed the other cars to the next spot and lined it up. She was in the middle with one car to her left and two to her right. She saw another Civic with a very young looking Asian kid driving on her left. She looked to her right and saw a red Eclipse Spyder then, none other then Mr Green Evo, Chad. She guessed he had found someone willing to tell him where races were. She turned on her NOS and checked the gages. Everything looked good. Most racers had their engines running so rich there was more then a normal amount of blow by gas in the exhaust. One of the first things Vince and they guys had done was put a small device in the tailpipe that sparked when a button was pushed. If you revved your car up then pushed the button the waste gas in the exhaust would ignite and a jet of flame would come out of the tail pipe. She did it now and the crowd cheered.  
  
Chat saw the jet of flame out of the back of the purple Skyline. He never would have dreamed that the receptionist at the D+T garage would drive a skyline and race it too. But of course if she was in this race then she was a rookie. He was worried about pitting his Evo against a Skyline but he figured based on the fact that she was a chick and a rookie he could take her. He was glad he hadn't had to race in the other race. The guy in the orange Supra had been fast and racing for D+T too. Chat would be willing to bet that Dominic Torreto had more then 20 grand under the hood of that car alone and was probably into it for 40 all together.  
  
If he had to guess just based on the driver of the Skyline he would bet it was pretty well stock which didn't make it that great. Then he did a double take. Oh hell, it was the GT-R V-Spec. Well, if it was stock or mostly stock he could still take her. That only gave her about 380 horse. He was close to that with all his modds. If she had modds herself and could drive like the other DT rookie he was likely screwed. He had raced before, and won too but he wasn't telling them that. He wanted his shot at Dom just like all the other wannabes from other states. He could be screwed if she could drive like the other D+T driver had been able to.  
  
Leon was still waiting to get a clear scan to tell Hector to start the race. Leon got a 187 at a liquor store and told Hector they were ready to race again. Hector said ok then looked at the line of 4 revving, high performance, high octane machines growling in a row in front of him. He got ready to drop his hands.  
  
Nyssa looked over to the sideline where Mia and Letty were standing. Mia blew her a kiss and Letty gave her a big thumbs up. So did Jesse. Vince was waiting with Dom at the finish line. Nyssa waved quickly and looked back at Hector. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.  
  
Hector dropped his arms and they were off.  
  
Nyssa blew by the other two cars like they were standing still and she was driving a rocket ship, but Chad was pacing her.  
  
Two seconds in.  
  
She knew Evos were nice but man, not like her car. She checked the gages and everything was going well. Her car was making a deep throaty purr, unlike Chad's car which had an exhaust profile like some sort of expensive Japanese lawnmower. But he was neck and neck with her.  
  
She hit 7500 rpm in third and slammed in into 4th. She gained on Chad half a car length.  
  
5 seconds in and running at 110 mph. She hit 5th at 7200 rpm, going 120.  
  
He was now half a car in front of her. *How the fuck did that happen*, she thought.  
  
7 seconds in, 120 mph , hit the nitrous.  
  
She was thrown back into her seat and her tires squealed but stuck. The car was showing it's race bred pedigree like the champ it was. Nyssa was in heaven, she was hooked now, win or lose. Dom couldn't keep her out of races after this unless he left her at home. Even then she would find a way to sneak down. She got two lengths on Chad with the NOS but he used his and caught up to her. How the hell was he doing this? She wondered he shouldn't have been able to do this. She had to pick up the pace.  
  
Neck and neck again.  
  
She got nervous for a nanosecond then remembered Vince's one main piece of advice.  
  
Don't panic.  
  
She could see the finish. They were neck and neck.  
  
140 mph 8 seconds in, hit 6th gear at 7600 rpm, hit the nitrous second charge.  
  
The car leaped like a thoroughbred and got a car length on Chad and went over the line a car ahead of him when all was said in done. Her car was more like a 9.3 second car then a 10 second car.  
  
She got it slowed down and pulled a u-turn. She drove back to where the guys were and got out of her car on shaky legs. She had hit 160 to win and what a rush. Her face was flushed and her eyes were sparkling. She was so happy she won. She collected her money and they all drove back to the warehouse alley. The girls grabbed her and congratulated her on her win. Letty was so proud, she was the one who really taught Nyssa to race after all. Vince just taught her to drive. But no one would ever dare tell Vince that. Dom even gave Nyssa quick hug. It had been a pretty win. Not just a win but a text book, pretty win. Well if there was such a thing a textbook for street racing.  
  
Dom figured that Chad dude had lied about being a rookie though. No one should have been able to bring an Evo that close to a Skyline unless they had more then a fair idea what they were doing. But it really didn't matter since Nyssa had beaten him in the end. He decided to tell Nyssa that he thought she had beaten a pro. It would build her confidence if she thought she had beaten someone good on her first time out. He told her he figured that Chad had underestimated his amount of street time with his car and Nyssa agreed but her eyes did light up even more at the though of having beaten someone who was not a rookie.  
  
Vince picked her up and swung her around and told her he never had any doubts that his start pupil could beat anyone. Nyssa and Letty shared a laughing look. Vince gave her a quick hard kiss then the team wandered off into different groups to chat. After a while of catching up with old friends and making new ones they headed home. Nyssa realized she hadn't seen Vince since he kissed her after her race. He hadn't come to tell her he would meet her at home. Oh well, she followed Letty's 240sx home. She put the car in the driveway and Letty parked out front of the house by the curb. They walked into the house arm in arm, they were such good friends now. All the other cars were home already.  
  
"Yo, Yo, Yo. The winner has returned, you may all par-tay down now." Nyssa laughed and Letty laughed with her. She accepted congratulations from the team. First Leon and Jesse and then Mia and Brian. She told Brian he did good too, even though not one person he was against was worthy. Dom was the last to congratulate her. He let her keep a full half of her winnings since she had a car when she got there, the other half went to the team. She looked around for Vince. He was the only one who hadn't talked to her since she got back from the race, and he was the one she most wanted to see. But she couldn't get away from the team and friends to go look for him. Everyone wanted to talk about the 'big race'. It was the big hit of the evening.  
  
Vince was in the kitchen, a friend of his walked up to him.  
  
"Hey isn't Dom's new girl your girlfriend?"  
  
"Ya, why?"  
  
"I saw her out last night with a group of girls, Manda Williams and that crew. They were all down at that new club, Redline." The guy stopped talking for a second while he opened a beer. Vince thought she had been at a house party. "Well anyway she was dancing with that Chad guy she raced tonight for awhile before that Spilner guy that races for Dom came and took her and her cousin out of the club. Then like three minutes later cops busted the joint up looking for underage drinking. She left just in time to avoid getting re IDed by the cops."  
  
"Ya, she was out with her cousin last night so it was her. I knew Spilner drove her home because she doesn't know when to stop drinking and she couldn't drive herself home."  
  
"Well that's cool Dawg, just wanted to let you know."  
  
"Well thanks for looking out for her man." Vince took his beer and walked into the living room. Nyssa was in the middle of a group of admirers talking about her win. She was looking at Letty to save her from the attention. She just wanted to find Vince and talk to him about it. She had told enough strangers how it had felt to keep her for a life time. She looked up from Letty and the rest of the crowd. She saw him standing in the door and smiled at him, like come save me please. He frowned and turned to walk back to the kitchen.  
  
Why had she lied about where she was and what was she doing dancing with that punk that had been in the shop? Not only that but she had joked about how cute she and Letty had found the other guy. He knew that she and Letty had been eyeing the guy up. Then he finds out that she was out drunk and dancing with that punk.He didn't know what to make of it. But he knew he was angry about it. She lied. Someone had come up to him at races and told him the same thing, that Nyssa had been out dancing with other guys, but he had thought the other guy had been mistaken. He wouldn't have stopped her from going to the bar if she wanted to. And why had the buster been there? How did he know to get the girls out just in time to avoid the cops? There were too many questions that he couldn't get the answer to.  
  
Nyssa couldn't believe he had walked away like that. What could have happened? She won, she was home safe, she hadn't fought with Dom, she hadn't done anything wrong. She fought through the crowd over to Dom. She asked him if he knew what was up with Vince. Dom had no idea. Neither did Mia. She went looking for him.  
  
He wasn't in the kitchen, or in the living room. He wasn't downstairs or upstairs. She found him in the backyard. He was sitting on the picnic table, bottle of corona on the table beside him and his elbows on his knees, head hanging down between his legs. She walked over to him and ran her hand over his head like she had so many times before. He sat up abruptly. She backed off at the look in his eyes.  
  
"What's wrong V.?"  
  
"Nothin."  
  
"If it's nothing then why weren't you the first one in there to congratulate me on winning? You taught me after all but you didn't even come see me after I won my first race. You left me with all those people. What happened to put you in such a bad mood? I thought we could go listen to some music and watch the people party like we always do."  
  
"I'm not in the mood to be around anyone and that includes you so why don't you go party with Letty or somethin."  
  
"I'm not going anywhere till you tell me what the hell this is about."  
  
"This is about you going to a club last night, not your cousin's. This is about you dancing with that asshole from the garage. This is about you coming home with the punk. And mostly about you lying about it all."  
  
"That's what this is over? Yea I kept that little fact that we hit a club from you. I though you would get pissed off or insist on coming with me. It was girl's night out. All the people I went with were family, cousins. It had nothing to do with sneaking. And no one told me that our relationship took away my freedom to go out without you. And Brian was nice enough to drive me home. He was concerned that I make it home safe and wouldn't hear of not driving me home."  
  
"You were dancing with other guys."  
  
"This just keeps getting better and better, now it's guys? It was one guy, for crist sakes, for like 3 minutes and that was just the moment. It didn't mean anything. I was going to tell you about it later in the week anyway."  
  
Nyssa could not believe how he was acting over this. So what, she had gone out to a club and he hadn't known in advance. He took off all the time and she didn't know where he went or with who. This was ruining her night. She didn't know what to do though. She didn't feel she should have to explain herself any more then she already had.  
  
"Well you lied about where you went and who with, what else have you been lying about to me."  
  
"Jesus Christ Vince. Nothing. What did I do to deserve this? I went out once without telling you exactly where I went. Big deal. You do it all the time. I don't treat you like this when I find out."  
  
"I guess the big dumb scruffy guy got tiring and you went looking to see if you could do better."  
  
She couldn't believe him. She couldn't deal with this right now. It wasn't fair and it had ruined her night. She couldn't see him for awhile. She had to cool down and think. She could tell he was drunk. "Think what you want to V, you will anyways." She walked calmly away from him and into the house. She didn't want him to know anything was up. She managed not to cry till she got downstairs. She pulled out her bag and started stuffing clothes in it. 


	27. Runnin like Hell

Chapter 27 - Running Like Hell  
  
She looked down to where the little chain Vince had gotten her after he won that race with her car was hanging. She took it off and left it on his pillow. She pulled on a sweater cause she felt cold all of a sudden and turned to leave the room and saw Jesse standing in the door looking both shocked and scared.  
  
"You're leaving?" He asked softly. He liked Nyssa. She didn't treat him like he was slow. Her and Leon treated him like a normal person.  
  
"For awhile Jess." She smiled a watery smile at him.  
  
"Why?" Jesse thought she should be happy after the night she had.  
  
"Vince and I had a fight and I gotta get out of here while we both thing about it." She couldn't stop the tears but they just quietly flowed down her cheeks.  
  
"Well just tell Dom and he'll let you stay upstairs then you don't have to leave."  
  
"It's not that simple Jess. I wish it was. I'll be back. I just need some space. Don't tell anyone I left for a few hours Jess please."  
  
"I don't know Nyssa. Dom's gonna be pissed and I don't wanna think about Vince when he finds out you took off on your own."  
  
"I doubt he'll care too much, at least for now. It's for the best Jess. Here, this is my cell number. No one else has it ok, so it's just for you. If you need to talk to me or anything just call me." She handed him the small piece of paper she'd written the number on.  
  
"I'll give you a 20 minute head start before I tell Dom an that's all I can promise."  
  
"Ok Jess, you're a good friend." She hugged him quickly and headed upstairs. The party was in full swing. Dom and Letty had pulled one of their mid party disappearing acts and it would be awhile before they reappeared. Mia and Brian were engrossed in each other and Leon was talking to some blond skank in his lap. No one else looked up to see her leave the house. Just Jesse watched her small, sad form as it retreated out the front door and out of their lives. He followed her out to her car. He saw she was taking the Skyline. Not a good idea in the state she was in.  
  
"You sure about this Nyssa?" He couldn't just let her leave, he had to try to stop her one more time.  
  
"I'm sure Jess. Call me in a day or two and fill me in ok?" She couldn't stay. She had to get away and seeing the team was just going to be a constant reminder of what she'd thought she'd had, and what had been taken away. Of course that was Vince's heart and from what had just happened she'd guess she couldn't lose what she'd never really had. "Ok but I wish you would just stay. I'm sure everything will work out when Vince sobers up. You've never seen him trashed before and he can get kinda stupid"  
  
"I wish I could stay Jess, but I need outa here for awhile."  
  
With that she fired up the car and squealed out of the drive and down the street. Dom heard the car leave and knew it was Nyssa, but he was, well, busy, with Letty and he figured that she and Vince went for one of their drives. It did momentarily occur to him that they always took Vince's car for that but maybe Vince being the Coyote that he was had had too much to drink. He got back to the task at hand, he had more important things to worry about then what car his friends took off in.  
  
Leon heard the squeal of the Skyline off down the road and looked around. He was worried someone stole his. His face cleared as he realized he was blocked in and whoever would have had to steal like 4 other cars first. But that meant it was Nyssa's car. She should be in here partying up after her big win. And where was Vince for that matter. They should be together somewhere. They were always sitting on some couch watching the people or pretending no one could see them making out in corners. Ah, the first parts of relationships were always fun, till that crazy, I have to have you now feeling went away. That was why Leon preferred to just have to have girls right now for one night.  
  
Leon saw Jesse standing off by himself looking lost. That was strange. They normally couldn't keep him away from the racer chasers. Leon said bye to blondie for the time being and went up to Jesse to see what was wrong. Jesse filled him in.  
  
"Ah shit." Leon ran his hand through his hair and sighed, "You tell Dom or V. yet?"  
  
"I promised to give her a 20 minute head start."  
  
"She'll be long gone by then Jess. What were you thinking?"  
  
"She was cryin an shit and can't deal with that stuff."  
  
"Aw fuck. We gotta tell Dom."  
  
"Dom and Lett are still upstairs."  
  
"This just gets better and better. I had too much to drink to drive. What about you?"  
  
"Me too."  
  
20 minutes to the second after Jesse let Nyssa go Dom and Letty came back downstairs. Dom took one look at Jesse and Leon and knew something bad was up. He dragged them downstairs away from the crowd and made them spill it. They told him how Nyssa had taken off, how they couldn't drive after her because none of them was fit to drive, how Vince was busy drinking himself into a stupor over the whole thing in the backyard none the less.  
  
"Aw great." Dom said, throwing his arms up and his head back. Why tonight of all nights for them to fight. He guessed he was elected to go find her since he hadn't had a drink since right after they got home.  
  
He found Mia, who didn't drink, and Brian, who hadn't, and told them the situation. Mia was clearly pissed at Vince and scared for Nyssa. Brian looked guilty for his part in the whole thing. Dom quickly reassured him he had done the right thing bringing the girl home safe and now they had to do the same thing.  
  
Dom went to see Vince to see if he could get some idea what had gone down, other then the bit of info he had from Jesse. He found him were Leon had said he was, drunk in the backyard, passed out on the table. Dom looked at Vince with literal disgust for the first time ever. He couldn't believe what his friend had done. Dom had fucked up his fair share but he had never driven Letty to a wild ride in the night in a pimped out race car. All alone, and no doubt upset added to the mix. Dom knew that there would be no talking to Vince yet, he was piss loaded, and likely even Dom couldn't wake him now anyway, it was like he was passed out.  
  
All the sober team members but Mia went looking for Nyssa. They left Mia at home to watch the party and to start to shoe people out of the place. They looked from 1, when she went missing, till 4am and never found a sign of her other then the rubber she lay down on the road in front of the house.  
  
Nyssa drove till 3am. Then she found a clean looking motel and pulled in. She got a room. Thank god she had the half of the money from the race. It would keep her till she could decide what to do. Either move far away and start over or just move in with Manda and go back to her plain boring life, never doing anything fun, selling the Skyline and being the good girl while she waited for her Daddy to get out of jail and for her broken heart to heal, going to a good college to get a 'real job' cause it wouldn't do for her to learn cars, even though that was what she wanted to do. How depressing.  
  
Wait a second, she thought, I can go home to daddy's house tomorrow and none of the team know where that is. She could hide and lick her wounds there. That was settled. It was home. Well, no it wasn't. Home was with the team now, and she knew it. But her old house would be familiar.  
  
She took a scalding shower to try to wash the dirty feeling away, crying the whole time, then a freezing cold shower to try to kill the feelings in her damaged heart. She just wrapped a towel around her and headed into the main room still soaking wet.  
  
She curled up in a ball on the strange bed and stared at the red, glowing numbers of the cheap digital alarm clock on the dresser beside the bed. It was counting down the hours and minutes that she lay there unable to sleep. She realized it was the same clock as Vince had in his room and she stood up and tore it from the wall plug and threw it across the room and then broke down in tears. She slid down the wall and sat on the floor, curled up with her legs to her chest and her arms wrapped around them and looked at the clock, lying forlornly on the floor, it's red numbers snuffed out by her violent act against it.  
  
It was 4am. She figured that they would be glad she was gone. Maybe Mia and Letty would miss her some for awhile then life would go back to normal and they would all forget about her. She figured at one time Vince must at least care about her but she guessed she was wrong. Dom and the guys would be just as happy she was gone. One less person tying up the bathroom, one fewer girl to worry about at races every night. She'd just been starting to feel like the whole team had accepted her too. She'd even miss Leon and Brian. Letty was the first girl to ever see her for what she was and treat her like it was ok to be a girl into cars and a girl into being feminine.  
  
She had no idea that Dom and his team had searched for her for three hours before giving up. She finally fell into an exhausted but restless sleep at 5am after she dragged herself along the floor on her hands and knees. She was so cold, after all the A/C was on in the room and she came out of a cold shower soaking wet into the room and now she was just in a wet towel on the floor. She got into the bed and again curled up on her side under the covers and cried herself into an exhausted slumber.  
  
At 5am Vince woke up on the picnic table in the backyard. He had one hell of a hangover and a vague memory of fighting with Nyssa over her lies. The fact that she lied to him still hurt. But he knew he over reacted. He would have to tell her he was sorry yet again for yelling at her and for probably ruining her big night. Aw hell. He made it into a bigger deal then it was yet again. He couldn't count the number of times his hot temper had gotten him in shit because he just didn't think. He picked himself stiffly up off the table and headed into the house, holding his head with one hand. He was too god damn old to sleep on hard flat things. Oh man every muscle he had hurt, including his head. Everyone was still in bed. He went downstairs and figured he would crawl into bed with Nys for awhile then when she woke up she could yell at him for how he acted and everything would be fine.  
  
He peaked into Jesse's room and Jesse was asleep with a pillow in his arms. He forgot how young Jesse was mentally even if he was not that much younger then the team in age. Jesse looked so sad. Oh well, guess he hadn't managed to pick up last night. Vince chuckled then winced cause his head hurt. He went to the bathroom and brushed the foul taste out his mouth, then went to his room.  
  
He knew something was wrong. He hadn't been used to a made bed before Nyssa but it was something she did every day. And he knew she was not in the bed because it was still made. He walked up to the bed and the little gold chain he had bought her with the car that looked so much like hers on it was on his pillow. He walked over to the dresser that her stuff had been in and it was empty.  
  
"God Damn It". He shouted and then winced at what that did to his head. He guessed he had fucked last night up even worse then he had thought. He went looking for any team member that was up. He found Mia in the kitchen. She had obviously just woken up. It was strange for anyone to be up at 6am on a Sunday after a party. Mia was an early riser but this was beyond early.  
  
"Whatcha doing up this early Girl?" he asked.  
  
"Worrying about Nyssa, you big idiot. What did you say to her?"  
  
"I don't remember. I was really drunk. I remember us fighting but not exactly what was said."  
  
"Well Nyssa ran away. No one knows where she went. Dom and Brian and Letty searched till 4 am and never found her. She didn't go to her cousin's or her step dads. No one knows where in the hell she is. You messed up big Vincent Joseph Casaletto, and you made her run away. She only told Jesse she left because he caught her packing her bags." Mia was staring daggers at him and she knew how much he hated being called anything longer then Vince.  
  
"And he still let her go. WTF?"  
  
"Wasn't his place to make her stay. But you need to find her and make up with her. You owe her a big apology. You better bring her home Vince. Even if it is just to live in our guest room. If she has to go live with her cousin that aunt of hers will slowly kill all the personality she's gained since she moved in with us. I hope you know you have it coming from Dom whenever he wakes up."  
  
"Oh shit I messed up big didn't I?" Mia nodded and Vince hung his head. It was all coming back to him now that he had talked to someone about it and he had acted like a total ass. He was going to have to find her. He ran his hand through his hair. His hair was getting scruffy even for him. That thought made him remember that it was Nyssa who had forbid him to get a haircut just yet. She liked it scruffy. She liked to be able to grab it while he. Well he wasn't going there right now. Well someone must know where she went.  
  
"What did she tell Jesse? She must have told him something?"  
  
"I guess not, Jesse didn't know where to start to look for her. I just hope she didn't crash that crazy car of hers into something driving in the state she was in." Mia stood up. "I can't be around you right now Vince, I just can't." She stood up and headed to her room, where Brian was still asleep. Dom had looked the other way about his baby sister sharing her room when the guy had spent three hours driving around looking for their team member.  
  
Brian woke up when Mia got back into bed. "She come back?" "Nope, hasn't called or come back. I'm so worried about her Bri."  
  
"I know. We sure Jesse doesn't know more then he let on?"  
  
"No, I'm not sure about that at all. He was acting kind of guilty yesterday but I thought that might be because he let her leave you know? She liked Jesse, they're about the same mental age."  
  
"We'll find her Mia, or she'll calm down and come back. Do we even know what they fought over?"  
  
"Not a clue, I was talking to Vince just now but I had to leave the room I was so mad. Ever since we were kids he couldn't think before he acted. I guess he never will but this was bad."  
  
Brian just shook his head and pulled the quietly crying Mia against him and smoothed her hair away from her face. "It'll be ok Mia. I'll find her for you and Letty, I swear, just please don't cry anymore. I'm sure she's fine." Brian was sure she wasn't lying in a ditch somewhere because he had called in her plates and had the cops check. No skylines had been in wrecks last night and she hadn't been picked up. He figured after the deception he was heaping up on the team finding Nyssa was the least he could do. Mia and Letty had been friends since they were little, even with all their differences but they had taken to Nyssa. They were like the DT three musketeerettes. He knew Mia would be heart broken if her friend never came back.  
  
But if Nyssa couldn't forgive Vince then that might happen no matter what Brian found out. But at least he knew the girl was fine physically, where ever she was. Neither of the people in the bed saw Vince in the doorway. He had come to apologize to Mia again. He hadn't expected Spilner to be there. Dom would not normally have allowed it. He was so two faced about stuff like that. Vince didn't want Brian staying in their house either. But Vince had heard how concerned that Brain was that Mia was upset and in that moment had to face the fact that Mia was back in the role in his life she had played when she was 14, like his sister again. He still hated Brain, but he was glad Mia had someone who cared. Because while if Brian hurt Mia Vince would be right there with Dom to break his neck, he wasn't jealous of the other man over Mia for the first time ever. But he was more scared then he had ever been that he had lost his woman from his life over his own stupidity. He went to his room and crawled into his bed on 'her' side and buried his face in her pillow. He fell asleep like that.  
  
The whole team less Vince, who was still asleep in his room hugging Nyssa's pillow, gathered in the kitchen around 11am and made search plans. They all made a pact to find Nyssa that day so that they wouldn't have to worry about her. If she had run to her uncle or her step dad even they would have known she was ok. It was the fact that they had no idea were she was that worried them all. Of course everyone but Brian thought there was every possibility she wrecked her car and was dead in some morgue somewhere. Brian thought about how to tell them she wasn't dead without telling them how he knew and told them he had called around all the local hospitals and tow truck company's and there had been no car accident victims matching Nyssa's description and no cars like hers towed anywhere so it looked like she made it where ever she went. They all split up and started to comb the city for her.  
  
But the city of Angels was huge and the girl had a 10 hour head start if she hadn't stopped somewhere and Dom didn't know how they were going to find her if she didn't want to be found. He called Jesse on the two way.  
  
"You sure she didn't give you any idea where she was going to go?"  
  
"No Dom, she just left. She told me it wasn't for ever an she'd come back sometime."  
  
"Ok Jess, keep looking. I guess one of us'll have to go see her dad and tell him, see if she went to see him since. Then at least we'd know she was safe and we could leave a message with him in case she does go see him, he could tell her we miss her and Vince is a sorry idiot."  
  
"That's a plan Dom." Jesse didn't want to betray Nyssa and tell them he had her cell phone. If she ran away till say 3 then she had only been asleep for like 6 hours so he didn't want to call her or let anyone else call her yet. He would call her around 3 in the afternoon and make sure she was ok.  
  
Nyssa woke up in the motel room around 1pm and got up. She threw on some clothes and looked at her face. She looked all puffy. She looked like shit, like death warmed over. She put on dark sunglasses and checked out. She got in her car and headed back toward downtown LA. Her house was on the other side of town. She cranked the tunes and rolled down the windows. She played her happy CD to try to cheer herself up but it wasn't working very well. She wondered if the team was worried. The only one who deserved to be was Vince. She thought maybe she should call Lett on her cell and tell her she was fine so that at least Letty and Mia didn't have to worry about her. But they would just try to guilt her back and she wasn't ready to go back. She was still hurt and righteously angry at Vince.  
  
The team all met back at the house at 2 after having no luck. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack without some idea where she was. Dom figured he would have to go talk to Mark. He felt responsible for the girl, just like he felt responsible for Jesse. Even though Jesse's father had asked Dom to take care of Jesse and Nyssa's dad had not, he had opened his home to her and she was like family now. Plus her dad might know something. Dom went to get dressed. He was going back to the place he hated most, even if it was as a visitor. He shuddered and got dressed in his only semiformal outfit. Letty came up behind him. "I'll go instead Dom. I know you hate that place."  
  
"This is somethin' I have to do Lett. We took her in and as the leader that makes me responsible."  
  
"When you gonna stop feeling responsible for cleaning up behind Vince and Mia and Me n Leon? We're all adults now Dom. Might be time for you to feel a little less responsible for all of us."  
  
"We're still a team, a family, and I'll always be the one who feels responsible Lett. I can't see that changing. I know that I am not really responsible for the guys but I guess raising Mia just put me in the place of feeling like the adult you know?"  
  
"I know and I can't see it changing neither but it was worth a shot. You worry too much." He kissed her and smiled. "I'll be fine, and I won't be long." He walked out of the room and out to his car and took off.  
  
Brian snuck off with his cell into the back yard and called in her plates to have her picked up for anything if a cop saw her. He told them to tell her she had one tail light brighter then the other if they had to. He went back into the house. Everyone was sitting at the kitchen table ignoring Vince. Vince was looking suitably upset with himself. Mia hoped he was thinking up the best apology ever.  
  
Jesse snuck down to his room and closed the door. He looked around then called Nyssa's cell number with his cell so no one could pick up on another line and hear the call. She answered on the third ring.  
  
"Hello." She almost hadn't answered in case Jesse had given her number to one of the other guys.  
  
"Hey, you ok?" Jesse asked softly, he didn't want anyone to hear him.  
  
"Yea, I'm aight. I'm on the move right now. How are things there?"  
  
"Not good. The team spent the whole morning looking for you and Dom is going to go tell your dad you ran off on us."  
  
"Dom is going to do that for me?" Nyssa figured Dom would be the least upset of the whole team.  
  
"Yea, he feels terrible that you ran away and god knows what happened. Dom's like that, since you are young and a girl it's worse for him over you. He feels like he is responsible for all of us. I can't even tell them I called you or they'll wanna know why I didn't give 'em your number long ago."  
  
"I know Jess. I'm sorry I put you in this position. Hey, tell them I'm fine, that I called you and I hung up before you could get anyone else or somethin'. I'm going to stay with some family and I'll be fine. I still need some time to think ok?"  
  
"Ok, take carea you."  
  
"You too Jess. I'll call you some time later in the week ok?"  
  
"Sure, but I hoped you be home before then."  
  
"Maybe I will be. It depends ok? Bye"  
  
"Bye." She ended the call. Now he had to go tell the team he had heard from her. He went upstairs and the team less Dom was all in the kitchen. He sat down and looked around at all the worried faces. He had been going to keep the phone call from them but he couldn't.  
  
"Nyssa called me on my cell while I was downstairs." Jesse winced in preparation for the chorus of questions that was bound to come his way. He was right.  
  
"Where is she?"  
  
"When's she coming back?"  
  
"Is she ok?"  
  
All the questions got asked at the same time. He told them that she was fine, she wouldn't tell him where she was exactly, or when she was coming back, just that she had a place to stay and she still had some thinking to do. Vince looked very ashamed of himself. But he still asked  
  
"Why didn't you come get us and tell us she was on the phone? I need to talk to her."  
  
"She didn't give me time to get anyone. She gonna call again in a day or two."  
  
Vince hung his head. The girls looked relieved to know she was ok even if she was still missing. Mia took some pity on him. "She'll come back Vince. Give her time to calm down. Use the time to make one hell of an apology."  
  
"I don't wanna wait and I don't need the time. I wanna talk to her now. I know what I need to say."  
  
"She's only been gone one day V, better give her a day to calm down more I think." Leon added.  
  
"Fine, see you guys later." Vince slammed out the back door and over to his car. He had to pass her mustang to get to his car. That pissed him off more. He got in and started it up. He went down to 'their' beach and faced a few hard truths. He had an issue with commitment. He had been looking for a reason to not admit how much he cared for Nyssa and he grasped that stupid story of conjecture and no fact as a reason to push her away. But in his childish plan she had only been angry for a day or two then they went back to normal, only Vince didn't have to admit how much he cared for her.  
  
Getting her back meant telling her that. It was only fair. He didn't want to admit it. Up till three months ago he still figured he would find a way to marry Mia before he was 30. Now he had to face the fact that Mia had never liked him that way and now he didn't want Mia that way either. That was 5 years of familiarity down the drain. But Mia was happy with the punk. And he had been happy with Nyssa. Would be happy with her again just as soon as he found her. He wished he had written her cell number down. He decided to go home and see if Dominic was back yet from talking to Nyssa's dad.  
  
He drove back to the house and the red Mazda was home. He went in and found Dom. Dom told him that her father hadn't heard from her, didn't know where she was, but if Vince really cared about her he might give her a day or two to calm down, then take a drive out to their family house. Dom gave Vince the directions that Mark had given him. "But Mark also said you hurt her again and it'll be the last time you hurt anyone's daughter. Oh and he didn't know just how 'close' you two had gotten, or how, um, cramped, the living quarters are here if you get my meaning, and I didn't tell him. But now you know where she is. You need to give her time to cool off before you go after her though."  
  
"Dom, brotha, I owe you big for this. I mean it."  
  
"Vince we been through a lot of stupid stuff together. I got your back, just like you got mine, but that doesn't mean you need to make a habit outta stuff like this. Got it?"  
  
"Yea, but this old dawg might be too old to learn how to think before he acts now. I'm too damn old."  
  
"Just don't make me buy a shock collar for you Coyote, cause you won't like where it goes, it won't be around your neck." They both laughed. Vince had a feeling everything would be fine, it might take time but it would work out. He would give her a few days to think, like Dom said, then drive out there and get her back. 


	28. Winning back what was lost

Chapter 28 - Winning Everything Back  
  
Nyssa looked at her cell phone after she hung up on Jesse. She looked around the big living room of the old house then called Manda. She told her all about what Vince had said and how she had run away. And how Dom went to talk to her dad. She asked Manda what she should do about it. What Manda would do.  
  
"Well first of all I would not have fallen for Vince." Nyssa sighed, that was a tired argument, the girls had been down that road before. Manda continued. "But since you did, make him sweat it out for at least a week, then go back to the house, but not to him. And be so happy and upbeat that he thinks you are over him. Then after a week of the happy treatment you tell him you miss him and you want to try again."  
  
"You think?"  
  
"Oh ya, that'll make him see what he is missing and he'll be so glad you took him back it'll be a long time before he messes up again."  
  
"As scary as it is to me to take this kind of advice from someone who thinks two weeks is a serious commitment what you're saying makes sense."  
  
"Oh, if you really want to get to him, have a big party in that big ol mausoleum and invite everyone but him to attend. Or better yet let him come and ignore him."  
  
"Oh, that's good, evil, but good. How's this Friday looking for you? I could have it then go back their place on Saturday."  
  
"Friday is looking wide open."  
  
"Great. Now I just have to get through this week and then we do this thing. Sound good?"  
  
"Sounds super. Get started on your party plans my girl."  
  
Nyssa hung up the phone. It did sound good. She would invite Mia and Letty and Jesse and Leon and she guessed Dom. She was warming up to Dom. He hated that jail. She knew that he would die before going back as an inmate, it couln't be fun for him to go even as a visitor. But he had done it for her. Well maybe for Vince, he was worried about Vince too she was sure. But she was sure of one thing. She knew Vince would come to the party if he was invited or not so she had no worries there. She would make sure it was a happening party with lots of people attending.  
  
She started to plan right away. She figured on having a BBQ for supper around 7 then dancing and partying till well into the night. She had lots of room for people to crash at her place if they got too drunk to drive. She went shopping and laid in a good supply of corona and other liquor and mix, then got the food. She figured she would ask Mia and Letty to come help her cook and dish girl stuff before the big bash. It could be the first big summer blowout. She would get the word out to all the racers that Dom's team rolled with. She should get a huge crowd. She would hope it was nice out so that it could be a mostly outside party. That was good really. They could set up a dance floor outside, and have someone set up a DJ booth. Her dad had told her to spend however much of his money she needed to. She hadn't spent much of it at all since she had been getting a small pay check from Dom for working in the garage and not paying rent.  
  
Manda helped her get the word out on races on Wednesday about the party, and reported to Nyssa to expect a huge crowd. Nyssa rubbed her hands together and told Manda she was going to ask Lett and Mia to come around 5 and help her get stuff ready if Manda wanted to come early and help too. Then they could all get ready at the same time. She told her to bring a bathing suit too. They could put the huge pool to use too while it was warm early in the night.  
  
Everything was ready to go by Thursday, which was went she called the Torreto house. Leon answered. "Yo."  
  
"Leon, do you know the word hello by any chance, or is it always Yo with you?"  
  
"Nyssa, girl, where the hell are you?"  
  
"My house. What's up?"  
  
"Your house? You went and got a place? Jesse said you were coming home sometime."  
  
"I mean my dad's house, I'll be coming back soon. Can I talk to Mia or Letty?"  
  
"You had me goin for a second Dawg, if you were never coming back it wouldn't be fit to live here." Leon said as he went looking for one of the girls. "Yo Mia, you got a phone call."  
  
"Who is it?" Leon shrugged. Vince was within hearing and he figured Nyssa didn't want to talk to him or she would've asked for him. Mia took the phone and walked into the living room.  
  
"Hello?" Mia didn't know who it would be.  
  
"Mia, girl, how ya livin?"  
  
"Nyssa, you dirty, evil girl. How could you take off like that and not call us. I have been going out of my mind worrying about you. And Vince is not even fit to be around. I can't believe you didn't call."  
  
"I did call. I told Jess to tell you all I was fine. I'm at my Dad's house. That's why I called. I want to invite you and Letty and the guys to a big party I'm having on Friday. I'm starting it at 7pm and it's going till people drop or go home."  
  
"We got invited to a party on Friday already, at some big house in the 'burbs. We're going to that already. You could come with us."  
  
"That's my party you heard about at races. Told you it would be a big bash. I wanted you and Letty to come out around 5 to chill and hang out before hand and maybe you could help me cook. You're the best cook Mi, and you know you miss me and love me and wanna help."  
  
"Of course I miss you. And I would love to show up early and dish. I'll see you then. Are we allowed to bring Vince?"  
  
"I wouldn't tell you not to. The whole team can come. Why not just not tell him who's party it is hun? Let him wonder. I hope he doesn't decide not to come. I hope he wouldn't rather stay home and mope."  
  
"Dom'll make him come, don't worry. Letty and I'll see you at 5 on Friday."  
  
"Oh and Mia,"  
  
"Ya?"  
  
"Bring your swim suit and dressy clothes too. We are going to swim at some point, kay?"  
  
"Sweet." They said their good byes and Mia went to find Letty. She filled her in and Letty said it sounded fun. They would take Letty's car up at 5. They could get ready with Nyssa and then wait for other people to show.  
  
The rest of the week seemed to drag for Nyssa. She couldn't wait for Friday to come so she could see her friends again. She was going out of her mind on her own. She was use to a smaller house filled with people. She loved living in the back pocket of everyone, strangely enough. She had thought her self to be a very private person but at Dom's there was always someone to talk to, you were never alone, and she felt safe with the guys watching out for them. It was nice.  
  
Her uncle John stopped by once to make sure she was ok, and Steve came by every day to make sure she didn't need anything. The gardener and the guy who cleaned the pool came once a week and it was on Thursdays. So she was glad that the yard and pool were all ready for the party. She called Manda to make sure the place was going to be packed. Manda told her it might be too packed and she hoped Nyssa was counting on a huge crowd. Sounded good to Nyssa.  
  
She went to bed on Thursday night and she couldn't get to sleep. The nights were the worst for her since she ran away from Vince. She found it hard to sleep on her own. She was also increasable excited about her party. She finally drifted off.  
  
Friday dawned clear and sunny. The weather man said that sun was the name of the game for the day. It was gonna be hot. She put on her bikini and then pulled on a pair of gym shorts with kiss this on the butt and then padded down to the kitchen. It was lunch time so she had a chicken salad then started to play phone tag.  
  
She called around and everything was set. She called Manda and told her she knew that Manda had been just going to come over but would she like to go shopping that afternoon. Since Manda could not remember the last time she had turned down shopping she told Nyssa she would pick her up in about 15 minutes since Nyssa's convertible was still with the Torreto's and it was too nice of a day to drive around in a car with no convertible top or sun roof. Nyssa laughingly agreed and waited for her cousin after she threw on some jean cut offs and a tank top.  
  
They hit the mall. Manda wanted to know if they were just looking, or if Nyssa needed something in particular. Nyssa needed an outfit that said you- were-crazy-to-do-anything that-would-cause-me-to-leave-your-ass-and-you- know-you-want-me-back-so-bad-it-is killing-you. She didn't know how to put that in words so she just said "I am looking for an outfit that makes people go WOW." So now they had a goal. They hit Manda's favourite store, Beyond the Beach.  
  
They looked around and Nyssa was not seeing that outfit. She didn't know what she wanted but she knew she would know it when she saw it. Manda held up a top. It looked like a halter top. It was silver and Nyssa knew it would look good with her dark skin, but she wanted something better then a tank top. Almost as if Manda had read her mind she turned the shirt around to show the back. The back, if you could call it that, was two string straps that criss crossed on the back. From the front it looked almost demure for a tank top, but there may as well have been no back. It was perfect. She tried it on with a black leather skirt that just covered her butt with a silver dragon on it, on the left hand side, and a slit up almost to her hip on the right. She put on knee high leather boots and came out of the dressing room.  
  
"Well? It seems like too much."  
  
"No way girl, you need that outfit. It looks almost like something it would be ok to wear around your parents, till you turn around, then, wow. Now help me pick one."  
  
They picked out a white V neck tank top in which the sides were cut away and the top was held together with criss crossed Xs of strings and the back was low cut and a white leather skirt just a short as Nyssa's with matching criss cross cut outs on the sides. Manda bought new boots, white leather knee boots. She wanted to know it if was too much as well. Nyssa told her no way, not with her dark tan and blond hair. It looked awesome.  
  
So they headed home. On the way Manda bought a highlighting kit and put light red highlights in Nyssa's hair. They chilled from 4 till the doorbell rang at 5 then let the other girls in. Nyssa introduced Manda to Letty and Mia. Mia and Manda hit it right off but Letty was cool to Manda. She was a bit sensitive about girls who had made plays for Dom. Manda knew that Letty thought she had a crush on her man and she figured she owed it to her to be both honest that she had, honest that she had never acted on her crush, and honest that she was over it.  
  
"Letty, I know you don't like me much right now, and I know you have reasons. But I just want you to know that I never did anything to be mad at me over, I just had a crush, I know it was stupid, but like I said I never did anything about it other then tell the wrong person, and I am totally over it. I've never even talked to him I swear. I don't even think about it anymore, I knew all along I never had a chance with him anyways and that it was wrong to be crushing on someone else's man. So I hope that you aren't too mad at me."  
  
"Well, thanks for telling me that. We aight." Everyone could tell that Letty was not totally over it but that she really had appreciated being told face to face, and that she knew how hard it was for a girl like Manda to admit she hadn't had a chance.  
  
They got the food all ready then around 6:30 they all went to get ready. Mia saw what the cousins were wearing and almost died. Mia was also wearing a fairly short skirt but her skirt and top were not quite as tight as the other two. Letty was wearing her barely there leather skirt and a sheer tank over a white bra, which looked awesome against her dark skin.  
  
All the girls knew they were leaving their hair down but Nyssa. She couldn't decide what to do with hers. It was to the small of her back when it was curly now. She hadn't had it cut in so long she couldn't remember when it was cut last.  
  
"If we straitened it how long would it be?" Mia asked.  
  
"My butt somewhere I would think." Nyssa answered. "But if we do that and I go swimming later all that hard work is down the drain."  
  
"True, and we're runnin outa time." Letty said.  
  
They put it up to show off the back of her shirt, they piled it on top of her head and left some curls hanging down around her face and down her back. They all agreed it looked good and she never wore it up like this, so it was still a change.  
  
The guys didn't show up till 8pm, so the party was already jumpin by the time they got there. They didn't know who's party they were at either. Mia and Letty had found it easier to just not tell any of them because Dom and Vince were so thick who knew if Dom would've kept it from him.  
  
"Cool house Dawg." Leon said to the group in general as they all piled out of their cars in the driveway.  
  
"Yeah, wonder who is throwing this bash anyways. I think the girls knew more then they let on. What was up with meeting us here?" Dom could smell a sneaky plan behind this whole thing, he just couldn't figure what could be up.  
  
"Whatever guys, let's just go eat so I can leave." Vince hadn't wanted to come. Dom had to threaten him for 30 minutes solid and he only came in the end because Dom told him that they were going as a team.  
  
"What is with you and your stomach Vince? Can't you hear that music? And ok, the food smells good too. It smells like Mia's chicken. Am I going crazy?" Jesse sniffed the air again.  
  
"Hey Dawg, that does smell like Mia's chicken, let's go around the back." Leon started down the path that lead around the house. The back yard was packed, but the table with the food on it was pretty well cleared out because everyone was chowing down. They all helped themselves then looked around. They spotted Hector and went to talk to him for awhile while they ate.  
  
Hector said some race chick was throwing the party. He wouldn't tell them who. The food tasted just like Mia's cooking though. Just then the girl in question walked out of the house and saw her brother and team. She grabbed Letty and walked over to them. "Hey guys. You find the place ok?"  
  
"Sure Mia. You helping them out with the cookin at this party?" Jesse asked.  
  
"Sure am, you would know my food, you eat enough of it." They all laughed.  
  
"So who's place is this?" Vince asked.  
  
"Someone's, I'm not really sure. Girl from around races." Letty looked around and then at Dom, who had just finished eating. "Wanna dance?"  
  
"Sure." Dom took in the way Letty was dressed and the attention she was getting from other guys and took her onto the makeshift dance floor under the lights on the other side of the place. Mia sat down with the guys and they chatted. If he hadn't been talking to Mia Vince would have left long ago. He caught sight of a tumble of red curls on some girls head and did a double take but the girl was gone.  
  
"Mia, is Nyssa here?" Vince asked very hopefully.  
  
"Oh she might be I guess. A lot of people are." Mia winked at him to let him know that Nyssa was in fact around.  
  
Vince stood up. "I'm just goin for a little look around."  
  
"Sure cowboy, have fun. You might try the kitchen." Mia laughed at the look on Vince's face. Ever since him and Dom were 8 Vince had the same look come over his face when he was busted doing something he didn't think he should be doing. Vince walked off in a huff. Brian arrived just then and grabbed Mia for a dance. Leon and Jesse moved off to see who they could run into themselves.  
  
Nyssa was mingling in the house. She caught sight of Vince and quickly headed outside through another door. She wasn't ready to talk to him yet. She wandered around outside for a while then went looking for Manda or Letty. She found Manda.  
  
"He's here. What do I do? I can't avoid him forever. But I don't know what to say."  
  
"Say whatever seems right. If you want to forgive him then forgive him. I mean you made him sweat it out over a week now. If you're still angry then just be cool to him. Find a guy to dance with and have him find you on the dance floor would be my idea. Then he knows it is not like you can't get other guys interested and you're not stuck with him or somethin'."  
  
"Good idea. Have I told you lately how fucken' scary it is to take romance advice from you?" Manda just laughed. Nyssa and Manda headed off to see what guys they could find to dance with. Nyssa saw Leon and Jesse talking to Edwin. Well she hoped they were not trying to pick up Edwin. She smiled to herself and steered her cousin over toward them. Looking at Jesse she got an idea. She wondered if Jesse and the new and improved Manda would hit it off. She walked up to the guys with Manda by her side. "Leon, Jesse, how you doin?"  
  
"Nyssa!" Both of the guys exclaimed and grabbed her.  
  
"Could I breathe now?" She croaked out and the guys let her go. She pulled Manda forward. "This is Manda. Manda, that's Jesse, and that is Leon. Leon, let's go dance. Manda, show Jesse around the place." Manda smiled. Jesse was cute.  
  
"Ok cuz, come on Jesse, I'll show you were the drinks are. I could use something cold." It was hot out for sure.  
  
"Vince see you yet girl? He's gonna freak." Leon asked as they walked toward the other people dancing, leaning back to check out the back of her outfit. Ol' Coyote would do more'n freak.  
  
"Haven't seen Vince. Is he here with you all?" Nyssa asked looking totally innocent like she figured Vince stayed home. Leon knew she was far from innocent and she had known Vince would come with the team.  
  
"Yes he's here. Dom had to drag him. Who's throwing this party?"  
  
"You guys didn't figure that out yet? I am. This is my Dad's place."  
  
"No shit, really?"  
  
"Yes, really. You know how to dance to this kind of music my man?"  
  
"Yeah." Much as the though of dancing with Nyssa sounded good, he knew what kind of dance went with this kind of music and he wasn't sure if he wanted Vince to see him doing that kind of dance with Nyssa. Oh well, you only lived once and he figured the whole point was to make the old Coyote jealous. And Vince was not likely to beat his face off at least. He hoped. Man was it hot out or what, Leon asked himself. Probably or what, he was looking at Nyssa, in that outfit, dancing with him like that. The song that had just started was one he didn't know but while it wasn't a slow song it was one of those songs that involved a lot of touching to dance to. He was in too deep now he figured so he was going to enjoy the ride for now.  
  
The song was one minute man and it was a very sexy song. Nyssa didn't know if dancing to this song with another guy was smart either but she was going for it now either way. She grabbed Leon and they started to dance to the song. Leon really could dance. Dom and Letty had decided to take a break from dancing and they noticed Leon and Nyssa dancing.  
  
"Oh shit. Look at Leon and Nyssa. That is a pretty, um, involved dance they are doing." Dom said.  
  
Letty said. "Yeah, who knew Leon could dance like that? Oh no, there's gonna be trouble." She pointed at Vince who had noticed his girl, he hoped she was still his girl, and one of his best friends doing a dance that was almost like sex with clothes on the dance floor.  
  
"Oh shit." Dom echoed Letty and stood up to go after Vince. But Vince came over to Dom.  
  
"What the hell is that?" He asked staring at Leon and Nyssa.  
  
"Dancing." Dom answered.  
  
"I know that, I'm not stupid. Why is she dancing with Leon like that?"  
  
"Cause she wanted to dance and he was there maybe."  
  
"Well what am I gonna do about it? I don't even know if I have the right to go retrieve her. She might still not want anything to do with me."  
  
"Go dance with her, cut it."  
  
"I don't dance like that."  
  
"How hard can it be man, you can have sex right, so that dance is basically just sex standing up without taking your clothes off."  
  
"I guess." Vince headed off behind Leon and tapped him on the shoulder. "Mind if I dance with her for awhile man?"  
  
"Naw Dawg, go ahead. Later Nys."  
  
"Yeah, later Leon. Hello Vince, how you been?"  
  
"Later we talk, right now we dance." Vince grabbed her and was surprised to find he did alright if he followed her lead and his instinct. The song ended and she agreed to walk off with him. "So, how you been?" Vince asked. What a lame start.  
  
"Good, I been aight. Upset at first but aight now. You?"  
  
"Well, not so good. I was stupid. I know that, and I'm sorry I hurt you."  
  
She nodded. "Well, that's a start." Vince stopped her and turned her to face him. She wasn't looking at him so he tipped her head back and looked into her eyes.  
  
"I just want you to know, the reason why I acted like that was I was scared. I never been involved with a girl before like this. I was always just marking time till I ended up with Mia before you and having such strong feelings for a girl was just over whelming. I didn't deal with it very well. I see that and I'm sorry. I was always the one that couldn't think before I acted, which didn't help me out there and I had way too much to drink. I hope you can forgive me."  
  
Of course she had planned on it already and that was a much better apology then she had been expecting. "I mean I'll forgive you Vince, but not right away you know? But we can be friends for now right?" She was still ticked off so she figured she'd make him sweat it out a little while longer.  
  
"Ok, friends for now. So who's party is this?"  
  
"Mine."  
  
"No shit?"  
  
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" She looked exasperated at the constant questions about who owned the house.  
  
"This is a great house, why would you ever want to come live in our place if you could live here?"  
  
"Cause this place is big and lonely. I like living with the team. I like the company. I like helping Mia look after all you helpless guys. I like working for Dom and I like racing. I was totally happy till this all went down."  
  
"Ok, fair enough." They walked back to the main part of the backyard. "You look good by the way."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
She looked more then good he thought but he didn't want to sound like a moron. They saw Jesse and Manda dancing. "Hey isn't that your cousin? And Jesse?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"You sound very satisfied about that."  
  
"I hope they hit it off. Manda has changed a lot."  
  
Vince figured he'd take her word for it. The song changed to one he was not familiar with but it was, well, almost like stripper music or something. The song, Nyssa knew, was Lick, by Joi, and she wanted to dance with Vince to it.  
  
"Let's dance to this one V."  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Just follow my lead again and it'll all be good. See Dom and Letty are gonna dance." She had told Mia and Letty what rooms to crash in earlier and she figured after this song Letty would be showing Dom to their room. She dragged Vince off onto the dance floor. 


	29. I was gonna make you sweat it

Chapter 29 - I was gonna make you sweat it.  
  
AN: There is sex in the middle of this chapter. Not to descriptive and not graphic. I'm sorry to some of you for not writing it more graphic, and sorry to some of you for putting it in here. I guess the short answer is, if you will be offended at me hinting that there was some consensual sex and hearing the two people talk about it you may want to skip the middle section of this one. This about as graphic as I'll ever get by the way, sorry to those of you who want more detail.I get embarrassed thinking of posting this up but here it goes anyway. Hope you all enjoy. Oh, and no flames because anyone who might be offended, you were warned. I don't think it really goes beyond pg13 but opinions do differ. I know. :)  
  
She ran a hand up his chest and was doin' some kind of dance that was making Vince got out of his mind. He wanted to do stuff to her right now that he could not do in public. She tossed her head and her curls bounced with a life of there own on top of her head. He wanted that hair around them, now. He started to pull out the pins. He got the last one out and her hair came down in a tumble down all around her back. She was undulating with her head back and he was following her lead, pressed tight against her. Since she had her hands all over him, he felt free to do the same. He had been without her touch for a week and it was going right to his head.  
  
*You've got lock and key, every part of me, know what makes me tick*  
  
She turned her back to him and he ran his hands down her sides and bit her neck. He could swear he heard her moan over the music. He turned her back around and he guessed the music and the dance was getting to her too because he kissed her hard and she kissed him right back. He ran his hands down her back and grabbed her butt. He picked her up that way and kissed her throat. The song trailed off.  
  
"Just so you know Vincent Joseph Casaletto," He winced, she had asked Mia for his full name, but the panting tone of her voice was such a turn on while she said it, "for the record, I was going to hold out on you another week or more, but right about now all I want is some make up sex. Do you want to see my room?"  
  
Did he? He already had her in his arms. He started for the house. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck for balance. "Tell me where to go from the top of the stairs." He was feeling pretty breathless himself. She told him which room was hers. He set her down and she was immediately all over him again. They started to peal each others clothes off. She broke away from him for one second and hit play on her stereo. The same song that had sparked this make up session filled the room. Vince groaned.  
  
"Oh come on, you know this song made you think of things you wanted to do that were not happening on a crowded dance floor." Vince just groaned again. This was going to be a long night and he was going to enjoy every second. He pulled her to him again and showed her what he had wanted to do outside.  
  
Letty and Dom saw them take of at the end of the song. Letty panted in Dom's ear, "Nyssa gave me a room for the night, wanna see?" Dom carried Letty off in the same fashion. Brian and Mia followed in a much more dignified manner. Manda wanted to take Jesse upstairs too but she didn't want him to think she was a skank. But went he asked her if she wanted to go crash she did and said yes. Poor Leon, he had no girl, but he found the blond chick from the first party that Nyssa came to and they picked up where they left off. Most of the other party goer's headed home. A few crashed in the living room of the house. Most of them Nyssa knew from races.  
  
Vince woke up the next morning with a smile on his face. The week of torture was almost worth the night of making up. He had hardly slept all week but he slept like a baby after last night, with his girl back in his arms. And of course the workout she had given him hadn't hurt. She was still out like a light. He hoped she wasn't mad about the little bruises and bite marks all over her neck and shoulders. She must have felt him looking at her cause she woke up. She smiled at him. He was glad she was not back to being mad now that they had, well, calmed down some.  
  
"Hey." She said.  
  
"Hey yourself." Vince grinned at her. He couldn't help it. He was thinking of the night past. Nyssa knew it and she blushed. She had been wild, crazier then he had ever seen her. That damn song went to her head. She should have known better but she wasn't upset about it.  
  
"Oh shit. Vince, you are going to catch it from your team."  
  
"Our team, Nyssa, our team. But why would I catch hell from them?"  
  
"Cause of all the marks up both sides of your neck, on your shoulders, and chest I might add."  
  
"You didn't do much better on your own you know. What the hell was that crazy song?"  
  
"Manda gave me a copy of it, it was crazy." Vince got up and headed to the bathroom. There was a bathroom for every bedroom in this house. Nyssa gasped then laughed. She couldn't believe she had done that. Vince thought she was laughing at his bare ass.  
  
"What's so funny?"  
  
"Um, nothing." She snickered and turned even more red.  
  
"What is funny or you are getting tickled within an inch of your life."  
  
"Well, the scratches on your back might be explainable but not the crescent marks my nails left on your ass." She burst out with rolling peals of laughter. She had messed his back up solid and hadn't even noticed till she saw the results. Vince finished walking into the bathroom and checked his backside in the mirrors.  
  
"Man girl you were trying to claw me to death or somethin? Damn, I coulda bled to death."  
  
"Just got carried away is all."  
  
"Feel free to get carried away like that any time you want. I'm not complaining, but maybe you wanna put something on these so I don't end up with another infection."  
  
"Hey my nails were clean till I got your skin all under 'em." Nyssa stood up and grabbed her bath robe and pulled it on. She was sore in places she didn't know she had. She walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. "I need to take a shower to try and losen up. You over worked me. I can hardly move." Vince blew on his nails and rubbed them on his bare chest.  
  
"All in a nights work."  
  
"See you after I shower."  
  
"Kay." He said then joined her.  
  
They joined the other team members downstairs about 45 minutes later. They got a standing ovation for the display they put on on the dance floor. Nyssa blushed but Vince looked proud of himself. The team laughed. Jesse and Manda looked tight. Nyssa smiled at Vince with a small gesture that way and he rolled his eyes at her.  
  
They sat down and let Mia feed them. It felt good to be back in the fold of the team. She looked around at them all. Yep, they were her team now. She finally felt like she fit in. They had missed her and searched for her. And Vince really cared for her. No words of love had been spoken yet but that was ok. After they ate and loaded the dishwasher Nyssa suggested they take that swim they missed out on the day before.  
  
The guys complained they had nothing to wear to swim. Nyssa raided her dad's clothes and found 5 pairs of shorts they could swim in. Nyssa went and changed into her yellow two piece. Mia had a tankini and Letty had a two piece almost as brief as Nyssa's. Manda had her red white and blue bikini on. The girls walked downstairs and found the guys in the pool already, Vince and Dom were getting picked on over there 'war wounds' and were laughing at the other two for not having anything to show off.  
  
The girls walked up to the edge of the pool and the guys looked up at them. 5 mouths dropped open. "What the hell are you 4 wearing?" Vince asked. Only Mia's suit left anything to the imagination.  
  
"They're called bathing suits Vince, I though you wasn't slow?" Letty asked.  
  
Vince growled and splashed them. "Oh it's on." Manda exclaimed and the girls jumped into the pool. They fought and played around for a couple hours, then the girls got out and started to sunbath while the guys played volleyball over a net that was set up over the pool. It was a fun relaxing Saturday. Around 5 Leon noticed the time.  
  
"Hey guys, we should get some supper and go home. We got races tonight." Dom asked what time it was and when they all knew how late it was they climbed out of the pool. They all went and got dried off and changed into their normal cloths. Nyssa had a bright idea. 


	30. Whatcha got boy?

Chapter 30 - Whatcha got Boy?  
  
"Hey Manda, why don't you eat supper with us and then ride to races with Jesse? You know you're goin' down tonight anyway so why rush home and then rush down there."  
  
"Well that sounds ok if no one minds." Manda looked around and all the guys said no problem. "But everyone has to take their cars home because I don't know when I'll be back here." Nyssa said. So the whole team each drove their own rides to the house.  
  
They all had to see under the hood of Manda's car. She didn't have anything modded on hers. Jesse immediately started to talk her ear off about what could be done to make the car race worthy. Manda just listened with a super interested look on her face that Nyssa could see right through. Manda only went to races to see and be seen by guys. She had no desire to race her car, but she wanted to let Jesse talk about stuff he cared about so she let him go on about cold air intakes and direct port NOS, and stand alone fuel management systems. Nyssa rescued her cousin.  
  
"Hey Jesse, the girl doesn't know how to pump her own gas, your expertise is wasted on her man. Let's go eat." Jesse blushed and Manda giggled,  
  
"Well the way you were telling it was making it interesting." Manda said as she walked beside Jesse into the house.  
  
"Smooth Nyssa. Real smooth." Vince laughed. "You want to hook her up with Jess then tell the car crazy mad scientist that she can't even pump her own gas."  
  
"Well she can't. It is downright funny if she needs gas after full serve hours. She had to go in and show some cleavage to the cashier to get them to do it for her." Vince laughed, thinking Nyssa was joking, then when she didn't laugh too he looked at her.  
  
"You're serious aren't you?"  
  
"As a heart attack."  
  
Vince just shook his head. He couldn't believe she wanted to hook someone like her cousin up with Jesse. They headed in the house and Mia and Nyssa made supper. They decided to make pizza, cause everyone knew homemade pizza was the best. They made 4 huge pizzas and by the time the guys were done there was none left.  
  
"Well at least we don't have to worry about if we have any saran wrap for the leftovers I guess." Nyssa said as she surveyed the havoc that had been rent on the dinner table. The guys all laughed.  
  
"After what you lady's put us through yesterday we need our strength." Vince said and Nyssa kicked him in the shin under the table. Everyone laughed at the look of pain on his face.  
  
They went to races that night as a team. Nyssa took her own car and Vince caught a ride down with her just because he didn't want to be apart from her yet. Manda rode in the Jetta with Jesse. They got to the warehouse and talked with Edwin and Hector. Vince gave Brian some dirty looks but didn't say anything to him. There was another race of novices happening and Nyssa wanted in on it. She told Vince she was going for it and he just smiled at her. She was an ok racer and she needed the practical experience before race wars. She walked up to Hector and told him she was in. She handed him her 1000 bucks and she headed to her car. She was about to pull out to head to the line when Dom came up to her window.  
  
"What are you doin?"  
  
"Racing my car, there was a junior race called and Vince agreed that I need the experience. So I had the money so I got in on it. Why?"  
  
"No one races without my say so that's why. I don't want you to race. It's too dangerous."  
  
"Dom, for god's sake. You think I can race at racewars without more practise? It's my car and my life. I need to race. I'm doin this."  
  
"You need to clear races with me you don't just get in on 'em. We're a team. There is no way you're racing tonight."  
  
"If you think you can stop me from there you got another thought coming Dom." She said then squealed off. Dom watched her go with a look on his face that was a mix of shock that she would talk to him like that and anger that she didn't listen to him. She was going to race after he told her no? She clearly didn't understand that he was the leader of this team. Dom walked up to Vince.  
  
"You tell her she could race without talkin' to me first?"  
  
"I told her she needed the practise and that's all man. I didn't tell her to do it or not do it. She's her own person. Man I just got her back, you think I'm pissen her off again you got another thought coming man."  
  
"Funny she said the same thing. 'If you think you're stoppen me from there when I'm in here Dom you got another thought comin'. I'll let this one go but she better not pull shit like this again Vince." Dom's shock had worn off and now he was just plain pissed.  
  
"Tell her not me man. I know she's my girl but she's your team member. You think I am refereeing all the fights the two o'you have you're wrong brotha. I can't."  
  
Dom looked a Vince for a moment and then the reason why Vince, as Nyssa's boyfriend could not take Dom's side in these kinds of things seemed to don on him. One Dom had to be able to run his own team and two Nyssa would think that Vince was taking Dom's side all the time and that would strain their relationship. Well then the girl had a lecture about the fact that there was no I in team coming up after this race.  
  
Nyssa was so pissed that Letty had been right that Dom had no intention of letting her race but at racewars she was livid. She stopped on the line with a squeal. She sized up the competition and didn't see anything that should give her much trouble. She looked out her drivers side window and saw Letty running up to the car.  
  
"Whatidi tell ya. He doesn't want us to race but on special occasions and at race wars. You fucked him up good. He didn't know what to make of the fact you stood up to him. I have before but he is so frosty and mad at me for days it just wasn't worth it anymore."  
  
"Fuck him Letty. I wanna race and to get good enough for my plans for my future to work out I need to practice. I can't race at race wars if I have only ever raced once before."  
  
"No need to tell me that girl, I know all about it. Now, about the punks you're racing tonight. Kid on this side of you, no challenge there, he's drivin a Civic, 'nough said. First kid on your left, in the MX-6, watch him. He's only got 5 gears to your 6 so your 2-3 shift is going to come sooner then his, he could get you then if you don't make the 2-3 shift snappy and tight. Or try to put it off if you can. But to do that you need to run the car to the redline." Nyssa nodded, she understood. "The last kid, he's Edwin's little brother. Now the Nissan 350z he's driving is only competition for you up to around 100 mph but you need to watch that one because he's fast and been doing this longer then you. Now, because you are in a 6 speed against 5 speed cars if I were you I would try to redline it. But you need to balance that against the fact that your torque and horsepower peek before the redline. You'll need both your NOS shots, be ready for that."  
  
"Man Letty. You really know this shit don't you? We need to sit down and go over this stuff some time. I wanna be able to size up cars the way you do. I never thought of how the gear ratios could hurt me in the short races. You're so right, I am going to lose some ground to them when I need to go up to third a half second or more before they do." Letty nodded.  
  
"Win this one for both of us chica, the better us ladies do the more likely Dom will take us seriously some time this century."  
  
"I'll do my best Lett, I really will." Letty walked away and they waited another minute and then Leon got the all clear. Hector dropped his arms and they were off.  
  
Nyssa got out front right away and just like Letty thought the kid in the Civic fell to 4th right away. Nyssa hit second just before the redline. So far so good. The two other guys were with her, the 350z with it's nose right at her door and the MX-6 at her rear bumper. Nyssa was at the point where she had to decide, shift the car now at the peek of the gear or run it to the redline and try to shift when the other two 'punks' as Letty called them did. She decided to redline it as Letty recommended. She gave it more gas and the rpm's climbed steadily. She slammed the car into third. She didn't lose any ground to them, they all shifted at the same time. She was running at 80mph right now, the Mazda was starting to lose ground to her and the Nissan 350z with Edwin's little brother. She glanced down and saw she was at 90mph. She went to 4th then she hit the first NOS shot and with a squeal she was forced back in her seat and the car screamed forward. A nanosecond later the 350 was almost caught back up with her. She now had to decide if she would use the second NOS shot now in 5th and hope to get enough acceleration to beat the other guy, or if she wanted to go to 6th then wait for the RPM's to get high enough for the second shot. She figured there was about three seconds of race left.  
  
She shifted, it was as tight and quick as any shift she had ever done but it did allow the 350 to edge out on her. She hit 7000 rpm and hit the second NOS. She was again forced back in her Sparco seat and she got a car length ahead of the 350 and crossed the line.  
  
"Woooooo, ahhhhhhhh." She kissed the air. "I won. I won. I won. I can't believe I did it." She realized no one could hear her now. She turned the car around and returned to where the other three cars already were. Hector handed her 6 grand. She had never held so much money.  
  
Vince came running up to her. He picked her up and she put her arms around his neck, money still in her hand behind his head.  
  
"You smoked 'em. Wow, what an awesome race. Edwin's brother is good." She smiled at him and he kissed her. "But you better go get back into your car and get ready to run so Dom doesn't spoil your night by choking you to death." She laughed down at him and realized that Vince was not laughing back.  
  
"Your not kidden are you?"  
  
"He was pissed as I've ever seen him when you pulled that stunt Nys. I mean I know you wanna race, I know you need the practice, but no one races without asking him first. I know I told you that at some point of your training."  
  
"You did, but Letty told me he would never let me race 'cause I'm a chick and he doesn't think we belong street racing, just at racewars where it is safer. I didn't put in all this work to be patted on the head like a good little girl while the big boys play with their toys."  
  
Vince groaned. "I know just don't piss Dom off if you can help it please. We all have to live with him you know."  
  
"Well, I'm not hiding in my car. Let's go give him 4 g's of this 6 and see how much nicer he is about my racing without his permission."  
  
They walked over to Dom arm in arm and Nyssa handed him the money.  
  
"2/3's of what I won. It's yours el captian." Letty hugged her and so did Mia before Dom could even open his mouth.  
  
"You were awesome. I'm so glad you went with my strategy for the 2-3 shift too. It was text book." Letty grinned at her, Nyssa grinned back. It felt good to be a winner. "So you had a hand in this little scheme did you Letty? I shoulda known." Dom could see the mark of Letty all over this now that it was pointed out to him.  
  
"No, once she was going to race I helped her size up the competition is all. No reason why she shouldn't win just because she went against you to get the chance to race." Dom frowned.  
  
"Nyssa, this is a team. I happen to be the leader of said team. We don't do things on our own or for ourselves on a team. There is no I in team." Dom said, smug look about working his line into his little speech on his face.  
  
"Nope, there's no I in team, you're right on that Dom. However there is an M E in team." Dom groaned and Nyssa and Letty laughed.  
  
Nyssa looked around for the rest of the team and was pleased to see Jesse and her cousin making out against the Jetta. She laughed and turned back to Dom. "So, Dominic, are we cool? I mean, I won, I made you money, I came back'n one piece and all. I think I proved I can race with the big boys."  
  
Dom wondered who this cocky little girl was. He almost asked her what she did with Nyssa. She was nothing like the shy little girl who blushed behind Vince in his kitchen while Vince lied about taking her to work, and not the high school she was really late for. She sure had come around since she had been with them, and started to race. She was ten times more confident. Not shy anymore, and not scared of anything. He guessed he had been overbearing on the girls when they wanted to race. He might have to rethink that now. He didn't however, have to tell her that just yet. Let her worry about if she was ever going to race again for awhile just to teach her who ran this show.  
  
"We're cool, but you need to clear all races with me from now on. And despite what you heard from Letty, I'll let you if I think you have a chance ok?"  
  
"Deal. Thanks for being good about this Dom."  
  
Dom ruffled her hair. She was like a slightly cockier Mia. "Ok, just don't make me regret it. And you can keep working with Letty to learn how to size up the cars on your own. We only have a month before race wars and I guess we all need the practice."  
  
Dom raced that night and won. Then they all headed back to the house and had a party there. Manda called home and told her parents she was staying with Nyssa. Her mom wasn't thrilled but agreed in the end. Manda said she could hear her dad saying yes in the background and that was the only reason why. Manda and Jesse went to bed first. 


	31. I'm Comin' wit Choo

Chapter 31 - I'm Comin' wit choo.  
  
AN: Much as I hate to say it this story is almost over. Like maybe one or two more chapters. Don't be too upset as the saga of Vince and Nyssa will continue forth in adrenaline, just much further down the road in the story then you guys are currently reading ;) Anyway on with the show. Enjoy, review, all that good stuff.  
  
Together much to the dismay of Leon and Vince. They couldn't believe that Jesse and a girl who didn't know cars at all had hit it off. But there was no accounting for taste and at least he had learned that he couldn't detail a car with the cover on as it were.  
  
The next month seemed to pass in a blur of races, working in the garage, and studying cars and their attributes for Nyssa. She had to be ready to put on a good show at race wars. The time for racewars was fast approaching. She and Letty put in a good hour a day practising strategy and talking cars and how the Skyline was matched against them. She also had Leon take her out a few times and teach her the little idiosyncrasies of the car, because he was very familiar with that kind of car. Three days before race wars Nyssa sat down and thought about it. She felt ready. She really did. She talked to Vince about it and he told her that he wasn't surprised. She seemed ready to him too and had really come a long way.  
  
The morning they were leaving for racewars dawned clear and sunny. Nyssa and Letty hadn't slept much the night before because they were so revved up to go and be able to race as much as they could get guys stupid enough to run against them.  
  
Nyssa was asleep on her back, Vince had gotten up to help prep the cars for the trip long ago so she had, in her sleep, sprawled out on her back in he center of the bed. Letty and Mia came bounding into the room.  
  
"Wakey, wakey sleepy head." Mia sang out.  
  
"Ugh. Go away." Nyssa wasn't a morning person to begin with let alone after only a few hours sleep.  
  
"No way girl, if you don't get up and get your car ready no racewars for you." Letty teased.  
  
"Racewars?" Nyssa sat up.  
  
"Yeah, remember, that's today."  
  
"Shit, why didn't you say so, I'm up." Nyssa hopped out of bed.  
  
"Now you just need to fix your hair and get dressed." Mia said. Nyssa looked in the mirror and groaned.  
  
"This hair hasta go. Mia how do you stand it." Nyssa was always surprised to see how messy her hair got.  
  
"Long hair is feminine and guys like it." Mia answered simply.  
  
Nyssa and Letty groaned. "Listen to her." Letty laughed.  
  
"So will Brian be coming to racewars?" Nyssa asked.  
  
"Of course. He's gotta run the supra for Dom. And then he gets to take care'a me after racing." Mia smiled.  
  
"You are so crazy about that guy." Nyssa laughed at her friend. "So guys is that what you all are wearing on the drive to racewars?"  
  
"Yep." Letty answered.  
  
Nyssa grabbed the same basic outfit as what Letty had on out of her drawer, tight leather cargo pants and a blue tank top. They headed upstairs. The guys were all down at DT already.  
  
"Well ladies, lets go down to DT and see how close to ready the guys are. Plus I wanna sucker Leon into checking over my car." Nyssa laughed.  
  
"You could sucker Jesse easy enough after hooking him up with your cousin. He has to be grateful for that." Mia still couldn't figure that one out. Jesse and a girl who only liked the look of cars, not the inner workings.  
  
"Yeah, that was a stroke of genius." Nyssa was proud of herself on that one. "Next up on the match up block, good 'ol Leon." They all laughed.  
  
"Leon's gonna be a bachelor for the rest of his life, he's the most dedicated one to that status." Mia laughed.  
  
"He'll find someone really special one day." Nyssa stated in that tone that allowed for no arguments.  
  
"One of your 'feelings' girl?" Letty asked.  
  
"Yup. I get this feeling Leon is in for quite a ride." They all laughed.  
  
"Good, why should he be the only one immune." Mia giggled. They all climbed into their cars and drove the short distance down to Dom's garage.  
  
As the three ladies walked into the garage all the guys looked up from what they were doing.  
  
"'Bout time you guys decided to get your asses down here." Dom said. "You think I'm preppin' that silvia Letty, you're wrong."  
  
"Dom, I'm not stupid, I'd die of shock if you ever did me a favour like that." Dom frowned. "That's why I prepped it yesterday." She stuck her tongue out at Dom. Everyone laughed.  
  
Brian walked over to Mia. "I did get your Acura ready for you Mia, I hope you don't mind." Brian smiled that 1000 watt smile at her.  
  
"Of course I don't mind. I'm not very mechanical, I just like to drive too fast." Mia giggled.  
  
"Well, I did my car yesterday too but I'm hoping you'll just look it over for me Leon. Please?" Nyssa asked.  
  
"Sure." Leon knew the car was in perfect shape because he was the one that always had to fix it with Jesse when stuff went wrong with it.  
  
Leon looked it over and pronounced it fine, just like Nyssa assumed. They hooked their trailers up to Jesse and Mia's cars and headed for racewars.  
  
When they arrived they set up camp as it were and arranged their cars in front of the trailers. Friends and just people they knew from the warehouse started to come up and talk to them.  
  
A buzz was slowly going through the crowd that a team running an r32 and an r34 Skyline had just showed up. People started to come in flocks to see if it was true.  
  
Dom had never had such a crowd around his team at racewars. He saw a crowd around Nyssa and Leon, who had parked side by side. So that was why.  
  
"No, it's not for sale under any circumstances." Nyssa said for what felt like the 1000th time. Leon was having the same conversation with someone else. "Yes, I know very well that 100,000 is a lot of money but I could get more, and it's still not for sale." The guy asking walked away in defeat. Nyssa sighed.  
  
"Get use to it girl." Leon told her with a frown. "Unless your racing your fightin' people off your car with a stick."  
  
Nyssa struck a Matrix pose. "Bring it on." Leon laughed.  
  
"See how you feel 'bout that in an hour or two."  
  
"I'll be fine." With that she walked off and into the trailer. She made a sign that said 'no I'm not for sale and don't even bother to ask no matter how much you wanna pay. Forget the dog, beware of owner." She stuck it under her windshield wiper and looked at Leon. "There."  
  
"You see how well that works out for you." Leon laughed. People were gonna bother her anyway. Mia walked up to her. "You wanna go look around?" Mia gestured to the large amount of cars that were there.  
  
"Sure. Brian not here yet?" Nyssa said with a knowing smile.  
  
"You know me too well, but I'm bored. I don't care that my car has not one spec of dust on it like the guys so I'm outta stuff to do." Mia laughed and started to pull on Nyssa's hand. "Come on, Letty's gonna race, we can wish her luck and watch her kick some ass."  
  
"Why didn't you say so!" The ran off to the line of cars where Letty was not so patiently waiting for her turn to race. "We better not let her see Dom talking to the skank with her fuckin' shorts undone already." Nyssa said with a sneer.  
  
"No kidden'." Mia glanced back. "When's he gonna learn?"  
  
"Never, he's a man. They don't learn." Nyssa laughed. "Let's go see Letty."  
  
Just as they ran up beside the purple silvia the kid in the white RX-7 started runnin his mouth. "Baby!" No one looked because the girls knew he sure as hell couldn't be talking to Letty like that.  
  
"Hey baby!" He called again. He was in the line beside Letty. This was not lookin' good. Letty looked over at the kid. "You should be watching from the side, I'd hate to get any exhaust on that pretty face."  
  
"Why don't you put your money where you're mouth is?" Letty sneered. Mia and Nyssa shared a look. This was going to be good.  
  
"Why don't I race you for that sweet little ass?"  
  
"OOOOHHHHHH" Mia and Nyssa's faces had mirror looks of we's gonna see that guy either get smoked or his ass kicked for real.  
  
"You want ass why don't you hit Hollywood Bulivard. You want an adrenaline rush it'll cost ya two large. What's it gonna be?"  
  
"Go Letty!" The girls cheered her on.  
  
The punk held up his money. Letty looked out her windscreen then shoved her glasses up her nose with her middle finger. The girls leaned in her passenger window.  
  
"You need to smoke this ass Lett." Nyssa laughed.  
  
"Don't worry your pretty little head 'bout it." Letty laughed. "He's goin' down." Then Letty and the punk were up. Mia and Nyssa stood off to the side and cheered for Letty, jumping up and down and talking trash at the other driver. The racewars official got their attention and dropped his arms. Letty took the lead and toyed with the guy a bit then she used her NOS. "Seeee Yaaa." She sing songed, caught him unaware and won the race easily. "SmmmwAhhhh." She kissed the air and drove back to get her money and her congratulations from her friends.  
  
"Way to go Lett!" The three girls all hugged and headed back to the trailers.  
  
"I wanna race someone." Nyssa whined.  
  
"Get your car and go race someone then. You just jump in line and race whoever you happen to be up against at the head of the line. You got your money?" Letty asked.  
  
"Of course. You think I should?"  
  
"Um, yeah, that's why we're here." Letty said in her best Duh voice and grabbed Nyssa around the neck. "Go race space cadet."  
  
"Ok ok. Geese, no need to choke me." Nyssa tried to fight Letty off but the other girl was quite strong. Nyssa finally got her off and laughed. "Damn girl. That's quite the grip you got on you."  
  
"I know it. Years of wrench wielding." Letty laughed. They arrived at their tent and Nyssa was glad to see that skanky had shoved off, however some chick was sitting beside Vince. He wasn't looking at her but still. Nyssa walked up to him and sat across his lap, facing him.  
  
"Hey." She said softly.  
  
"Hey." He said in his gruff voice, trying to be all masculine and finding it hard when his girlfriend was sitting on his lap. He gave up and grabbed the back of her head and kissed her. She kissed him back.  
  
"Ok, now that that's out of the way." Nyssa said to the retreating back of the skank. "I wanna go race."  
  
"Go then baby girl. Have a good time." Vince smiled at her.  
  
"Ok then, see you later." She went to get up. He stopped her and kissed her again first.  
  
"Now you can go." His eyes twinkled with mischief as he made that statement. She got up and started toward her car. As she was slightly behind Dom she heard Brian's voice.  
  
"Hey Jesse."  
  
"Bri, what's up?"  
  
"Nothin' what'do ya have in your hand?" "Throw'n down the pink slip just like you."  
  
"To what? The Jetta?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"You can't bet your Dad's car!"  
  
"It's all good. I'm not loosin'. This fools runnin' a Honda S2000. I'll win, that way me'n my dad can roll together when he gets out of prision."  
  
"Not when they throw him right back in for killin you."  
  
"Shit I'm up."  
  
"Visualize and win Jesse. I'm not kidden, you need to listen to me. Visualize and win." Jesse nodded and started to do up his harness.  
  
"Who are you racin'?" The tinted windows rolled down. "Don't do it Jesse. I bet he has over 100,000 under the hood of that car.  
  
"Ahuh." Jesse said and looked straight ahead. They raced and Jesse lost.  
  
Leon ran up to Dominic just as Nyssa was standing behind him on her way to get her car out of the crowd of gawkers. She stopped dead when she heard Leon. "We got problems Dawg."  
  
"What Leon?"  
  
"Jesse just raced Tran for slips."  
  
"Where's Jesse goin'?"  
  
Jesse panicked. He couldn't lose his dad's car. He just couldn't. He took off, he was so scared he really didn't know what he was doing. Tran rolled up on them and jumped out of his car. There was a crowd around the Toretto area just because of who they were. In front of the whole crowd Tran shouted.  
  
"Where's he goin'?" Arrogent ass, Nyssa thought.  
  
"Took it to the car wash." Dom said with a smooth little hand gesture.  
  
"Yeah, whatever, go fetch my car." Tran stood, looking cocky, like this was his 'hood and not a big public race meet.  
  
"Go fetch your car? You better watch who you talk to like that. We're not on you're block anymore." Dom stated and turned to walk away.  
  
"Toretto!" Dom stopped. "SWAT came to my house, disrespected my whole family because somebody NARCed me out. And you know what, it was you!" Johnny shouted and the next thing you knew he was eating Dom's fist. Johnny was on the ground with Dom pounding on him in a heartbeat. Lance ran to help his cousin and got one of Letty's nasty right hooks to the mouth for his trouble, laying him out cold.  
  
"No Dom." Nyssa yelled and tried to pull him off. Leon and Vince ran up and got Dom off Johnny, the racewars bouncer hadn't been able to. Johnny Tran looked up from all 4's with blood dripping from his split lip and an evil look on his face.  
  
They looked for Jesse for the next hour but he never turned up. They headed back to racewars and they all raced some and did really well, but the fact that Jesse was still missing was weighing heavily on their hearts.  
  
Night fell and the team was just sitting around. Nyssa knew what was on their minds and it wasn't just Jesse. They were supposed to do the last final big job tonight. And now they were short Jesse, and they didn't know if he was ok, wherever he was. Brian was also no where to be found.  
  
Mia was talking to Dom. Well begging Dom was likely more appropriate. "Now I am asking you not to go." Dom answered her back in such a low voice Nyssa couldn't hear him. It was like they all forgot that she wasn't supposed to know, or they just didn't care anymore. "No, don't give me that crap, you're doin' this for you!" Dom didn't listen and turned around to leave.  
  
"I'm comin." Nyssa stated.  
  
"No you're not." Vince and Dom said at the same time.  
  
"Yes I am, you're already short a person. I'm comin' and that's final." Nyssa walked toward the blue Nissan.  
  
"No way." Vince ran after her. "It's too damn dangerous and you're not doin' it."  
  
"If it's not too dangerous for Letty then it's not too dangerous for me. God damn it Vince. This is gonna go so wrong, Mia's right. But since you all won't listen I'm coming. I need to be there." Nyssa said with tears in her eyes. 


	32. Thats when things went horribly wrong

Chapter 38 - That's when things went horribly wrong.  
  
Vince gave up. "Fine, but you ride with Leon or Letty and you just sit in the car, got it." Vince knew he wasn't winning this argument.  
  
"No way." Dom continued. He wouldn't have a rookie along on this job, it was too big, too important, and most of all, too damn dangerous.  
  
"Dom, shut up and get in the car." Nyssa said in a subdued voice, she had a feeling about this and it wasn't good. All she knew was she had to be there. She turned around away from him and slid into the front seat of Vince's Maxima.  
  
"Fine." Dom said with a sigh. Mia looked at Nyssa. She knew that Nyssa was worried, even if she hadn't heard her tell Vince how wrong it was going to go. And Dom would never have put up with being told to shut up under normal circumstances.  
  
"This isn't goin' to be good is it Nyssa?" Mia asked her, leaning in the car window. Mia could see the cold fear in Nyssa's eyes. Nyssa tried to lie.  
  
"It'll be fine sweetie, why don't you go back to the trailers in case Jesse comes back ok?" Nyssa said in her best calm voice. Mia took off, whether it was because she hadn't thought of Jesse till then or because she just couldn't take the stress anymore Nyssa didn't know. Brian heard the whole exchange from the trailer and ran out to meet Mia.  
  
"Mia what's goin' on?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You know what I'm talking about!"  
  
"No I don't Brian."  
  
"Oh so what, you always have tears in your eyes when Dom drives away?"  
  
"What is the matter with you?"  
  
"Come on Mia, what's your brother racin' off in the middle of the night for? I'm talkin' about the trucks, you know about the trucks?"  
  
"NO Brian. Jesus. What trucks?"  
  
"Mia"  
  
"What?" He grabbed her and stopped her headlong flight away from him.  
  
"Mia, listen to me. I'm a cop. I'm a cop."  
  
"What are you talkin' about Brian? What is this?" "Ever since the first time I met you I been undercover. I'ma cop."  
  
"Oh you bastard." Mia was barely keeping control of her emotions. She wanted to both hit Brian as hard as she could in his beautiful face and fall into his arms and weep. The emotions were so conflicting she almost lost it and did neither, rather she almost simply crumpled to the ground under the weight of all that had been heaped on her slim shoulders that day. She managed to stand her ground, she let anger take over and it saved her. "You bastard." She bit out and went to run from him again. Again he grabbed her.  
  
"Mia!"  
  
"Get off of me Brian." She tried to pull away.  
  
"Mia, listen to me. Everything I ever said I felt about you is real, I swear to god. But right now this isn't about you'n me. Your brother's out there and he's about to pull a job and we're runnin' outta time. Those truckers, they're not laying down anymore. And you know what, maybe they'll make it through tonight. But every law enforcement agency in California is comin' down on 'em. If you don't want anything to happen to your brother, to Letty, to Leon, Nyssa or Vince you need to just get in that car with me. Mia you're the only one who can help me right now." Brian begged her to help him find the team with tears in his eyes. She knew then that Brian really loved her, her brother, likely even Vince in some way. They'd all become family to him and he wanted to try and stop them. If they stopped them then there was no evidence and the trouble went away. Mia was still very upset with Brian, but he really cared for them, he wanted to help. She agreed to go with him. They sped off in the supra to try and stop the team. The area of Cali they were working in to find the team was huge.  
  
They traced Dom's cell phone to find them and the team was already on the move. Mia didn't want to give him the number. She felt like tracing the phone was admitting Dom was guilty. She gave the operator the number with considerable attitude and a dirty glare for Brian.  
  
Dom and Leon arrived seconds ahead of Vince, Letty and Nyssa. Vince's turbo wound down as they all piled out of the cars and Dom started to take the covers off the civics.  
  
"Letty I need you on the left side."  
  
"You're sister's right about this one. This don't feel good." Leon couldn't shake the cold feeling he had that this was going to end badly.  
  
"Don't do that." Dom stated with a mean look.  
  
"Somethin's wrong." Letty said. Letty scared was scary in itself.  
  
"Stop!" Dom was getting frustrated with all the negative talk around him. He just wanted to get the job done. "We shouldn't be doin' this without Jesse." Letty said with a frown. Nyssa just looked on, she didn't know what to say. She knew they shouldn't be doing this but she did know that anything she said would do any good. Vince also just looked stoically on. If Dom thought they should go ahead then they would. Vince would follow his friend anywhere if he thought Dom needed him. That was just how he was. Plus he had that nice long vacation to look forward to when this was over.  
  
"Look, this is the mother load and we've been on this for three months. After this one it's a long vacation for everyone." Dom looked around. It was like he saw all Nyssa's objections in her eyes, he looked away quickly with a feeling of guilt, it was like he was forcing the team to do this and they would clearly rather not. He couldn't back down now. They were nicely set up for money now but after this they'd never worry about it again. Letty was giving him a look that let him know clearly she'd rather slave by his side in the garage for the rest of her life then do this one thing and have it easy, the look was mirrored in Nyssa's expressive gaze. She'd become one of the team so easily, she fit so well that it was like she'd always been there. She did have her feelings and she was almost always right. Still, Dom wasn't giving up on this money at this point. They'd pulled this job before and never had even a hint of any trouble.  
  
"Let's go." Dom said and Leon smacked Vince off his padded chest. Nyssa turned to climb into Letty's civic. She was trying hard not to cry. Things were never going to be the same again. Vince grabbed her on her way by and gave her a hard hug.  
  
"It's gonna be fine. We've been doin' this for months and nothin' ever goes wrong."  
  
"Ok," She didn't have the heart to disillusion him. He saw her doubt in her eyes.  
  
"You'll see, three weeks or less from now we'll be with them on some beach in Mexico." Vince smiled, trying to reassure her.  
  
"Sounds good baby. Take carea you." Nyssa sat in the car and slammed the door. Vince opened the door again.  
  
"Take carea you, see you at home in two hours tops, remember, just sit in the car and listen to Letty." She nodded and he gave her a hard kiss. Vince got in the first civic with Dom. They sped off into the night.  
  
"Mia, she needs Dom's cell phone number." Mia gave the number reluctantly and Brian figured where they would have to be on the map. The team was outside Coachela.  
  
"What're you gonna do Brian? What're ya gonna do?" Brian answered her with a look that let her know even he didn't know the answer to that yet, he still hadn't figured it out.  
  
"It's gonna work out right Lett? I mean they've done this 5 other times and never had anything happen right?" Nyssa was trying to convince herself she was wrong this time. She'd been wrong before.  
  
"Well, yeah, but I don't know Nyssa. I don't think it's gonna be good. But Dom always gets his way. We're set after this. Just keep thinking about the vacation Dom promised us and it'll be fine." Letty didn't look sure at all. It didn't help that she had heard Nyssa tell Vince that this was going to go incredibly wrong and she had never known Nyssa to be wrong about stuff like this.  
  
"Ok Lett, you're the girl." Nyssa leaned back. She didn't know how this was gonna be ok at all. She'd known this day was coming for so long but she'd somehow convinced herself it was going to be fine. That it didn't matter. That race wars was going to be a big party and then everyone would go on racing and working together and everything would work out, they'd have the perfect happy ending. She hadn't counted on how much the last heist was going to suck. Her first race wars was ruined by this night from hell. She'd hardly gotten to race. She'd only done fairly, worring about Jesse and the thoughts of Vince doing this. They raced up on the back end of the truck.  
  
"Ok, go time." Dom shouted over the radio.  
  
"We're all good, I got nothin' on the scanner. Keep goin'." Leon's voice also came disembodied over the two ways.  
  
They all moved into position on the trucker who honked his horn. Vince started out the car's roof and shot out the window. He got the second shot ready and fired. When he was hooked up to the cab of the truck he headed out onto the trunk of the civic. Dom checked the rear view. "Vince, Vince! Get back in." Nyssa was glad she couldn't see what they were doing from her vantage point on the left side of the truck. Vince jumped onto the front of the rig. They heard Dom's voice over the radio. "He's got a damn shotgun."  
  
"God damn." Letty and Nyssa breathed.  
  
"Get me off this thing." Vince shouted to his best friend, since as long as he could remember as Dom rolled down the window, look of worry on his face.  
  
"Unhook yourself!" Dom shouted. "Do it."  
  
"I can't."  
  
"You can do it Vince."  
  
The trucker shot out Dom's driver side tail light.  
  
"Dom, I'm pullin' up to distract 'im." Letty shouted and then gunned the civic up beside the truck, slightly in front of the cab.  
  
"Come on boy, shot doesn't get better'n this." Letty said. The trucker shot out her back window and both girls flinched and got down. "Shit! Son of a bitch." Letty shouted, falling back. Nyssa was terrified.  
  
"I'm gonna unhook the wire."  
  
"Letty what the hell are we gonna do. We gotta get him off that truck." The trucker was busy trying to prevent that. Dom tried again to get Vince but the trucker slammed his brakes and Vince was tossed to the side of the truck, where the drive kept trying to shoot him.  
  
"Unhook yourself." Dom shouted at Vince.  
  
"I can't get my arm free!" Vince screamed about his arm, it was being sliced into by the wire holding him to the truck.  
  
"Give me your hand!" Dom called. Dom almost had Vince when the trucker took another shot and swerved the truck. Then the trucker took one more very well aimed shot and got the undercarriage of Dom's civic. "Shit!" Dom shouted as sparks flew from his brakes and ball joint that were now shot full of holes. He almost lost control of the car and ran it off the road but his superior driving skills allowed him to keep control. He could still hear Vince calling his name. His car faltered and swayed but he was able to continue on after Vince, however he was having trouble keeping up. Letty grabbed the radio.  
  
"Get outta the way, we're comin to get 'im." Letty shouted into the two way and with a look of intense concentration slid the civic under the trailer of the truck and gunned it. Before she could get close to where Vince was suspended on the side of the truck the trucker slammed them broadside and knocked them into the ditch where they rolled over sideways then end over end before coming to rest on the roof of the car. The car was a twisted wreck.  
  
"Letty!" Dom screamed. Vince was suddenly just as afraid for Nyssa as he was for himself. He'd just watched their car flip off the road from his backwards vantage point on the side of the truck.  
  
"Leon!"  
  
"Yo!"  
  
"Fall back for the girls."  
  
"Go! I got them, you get Vince off that truck." Leon locked up his brakes, pulled a 360 and roared off to where the girl's civic went off the road. He stopped with a squeal and ran up to the car. He could still hear gunshots and the air brakes on the big rig. He had never been more terrified in all his life as he was wondering what he was going to find inside the girl's Civic.  
  
Dom pulled up beside the truck again and told Vince to unhook himself. "Dominic!" Vince shouted.  
  
"V!" Dom shouted back as his car lost all compression and he started to fall further and further away from his friend.  
  
The trucker took another well aimed shot and got Vince in his side. Right after he shot Vince he took aim and got Dom right in the engine bonnet of the car, taking out the head, heater core, and rad hoses. Smoke started to billow from the engine and the acrid stench of burning coolant filled Dom's nostrils even as panic filled his soul. His car was fast loosing all compression and in a few seconds wouldn't move. How were they ever going to get Vince off that truck? This was all his fault.  
  
"Letty, Nyssa! Baby! Letty, you ok girl? Come on." Leon pulled her out of the car. She had a busted up mouth and her arm was either broken or dislocated. She was in a lot of pain but she knew she was going to be ok. There was a lot of blood on her though. "Come on girl, let me look at you."  
  
"Get Nyssa." Letty said, she knew she was going to be fine, Nyssa on the other hand hadn't been moving at all after they'd crashed. Letty couldn't wake her up. Leon helped her into his Civic before he ran back to theirs.  
  
"Nyssa! Come on baby girl, we gotta go!" Nyssa didn't move. "Nyssa!" She still didn't move. She was hanging from the top of the car by the seatbelt, her hair streaming down onto the roof. Leon knew that position could not be comfortable and doubted that anyone would stay that way if they knew they were being hung like that. Leon reached in and touched her cheek. "Oh baby girl." Leon sighedm, thinking she was dead or close to it. She felt his soft touch and moaned and her eyes blinked open. Leon was never more elated to see her pretty purple eyes. "Come on baby we gotta go! He had to undo her belt and she fell off the seat from the upside down position she was in onto the roof of the car. She let out a cry of pain but Leon dragged her out of the car, they had to get moving. "You ok baby?" Leon asked her as he half carried, half dragged her up to the car.  
  
"No, but I'ma live, let's go." She moaned. They climbed in the civic just as the orange Supra flew by. "Leon, did Dominic get V off the truck?" Leon didn't answer or look at her. "Leon! Is Vince still on that fucken truck?"  
  
"Yeah, and Dom's car's dead. We gotta stop for him up ahead then catch the truck." Leon admitted reluctantly. They came up on Dom and stopped. The girls were both in the back, Dom climbed in the front.  
  
"You girls ok?" Dom asked. Letty wouldn't look at him or talk to him at all. Nyssa looked out the window. Leon gave Dom a look. The girls were blaming him for this. Dom gave up and turned to Leon. "Was that Brian that flew by."  
  
"I think so Dawg." Leon said, still watching the road. They had a lot of ground to make up. Brian came up beside the truck, he saw the steel cable cutting into Vince's arm and trapping him on the truck. He decided what he had to do in that split second. He knew he didn't have any choice.  
  
"Mia, take the wheel."  
  
"What'doya mean take the wheel?" Mia asked, wondering if Brian'd lost his mind.  
  
"Take the wheel and put your foot on the gas, I'ma get him." Mia took the wheel and started to slide into the drivers seat. Brian climbed up onto the top of the door and got ready to jump. "Get closer, he's having a hard time holding on." Brian shouted.  
  
"I'm moving in." Mia moved the orange car closer. Brian jumped and started to unhook Vince noticing that the other man had also been shot and the trucker was reloading.  
  
"Vince look at me." He tipped Vince's head back by his hair. "I'ma get you off this thing but you gotta work with me." Brian undid the cord and grabbed Vince. "Throw your arm around me and get up!" Vince somehow managed to comply, wondering the whole while both if he was gonna live, why the punk was helping him, and most of all if Nyssa was ok. "Mia, get closer." Brian called and when Mia complied he half threw Vince onto the car. Vince used the last of his strength to finish the jump. Brian saw the trucker was about to blow his head off with the newly loaded shotgun and jumped just in time to keep his head attached to his body. The trucker ran them off the road and Mia couldn't keep the car going. "Damn it." She cursed as the car spun out into the scrub on the side of the highway. They hauled Vince out into the field and tried to stabilize him.  
  
The four in the Civic pulled up and saw Mia and Brian busy working over Vince. "Oh fuck." Dom said as he jumped out of the car. "V!" He leaned in the back and took hold of Letty's chin. "I love you." He said and two sets of eyes, one melted chocolate and one bruised violet stared back with mirror looks of disbelief. The look on the girls faces clearly said if you loved her then you'd have listened to us and this never would have happened. As hurt as Dom was by that he had to go to his friend. The girls were right and since this was his responsibility he had to go do what he could for Vince. Then he stood up and Leon got out of the car. As soon as he was out of her way Nyssa was running over to where Vince was, heedless of her own injuries and the pain she was in. "Take carea her." Dom said to Leon over his shoulder as he ran, pointing at Letty.  
  
"Oh baby boy. Why'd you have to go and do this?" Nyssa asked softly as she dropped in the dirt beside Mia at Vince's side. Dom dropped a second later. He looked at Nyssa's face. It was in worse shape then Letty's had been. She was bruising all down her left side and he'd noticed she'd ran funny. Her head felt funny and she knew she'd hit it hard and she likely had a concussion. Her whole left side was in agony. She could feel bruises forming on her hip from the seatbelt and she thought she had blood running down her side.  
  
"If we don't get him to an ambulance in 10 minutes he's dead." Brian told Dom and the girls started to sob harder. Vince coughed and sputtered. Dom gave Brian a half disbelieving, half dirty look and tried to stop the bleeding from Vince's side with his own shirt. Brian took out his cell phone and with a look at Dom that clearly said please don't kill me he dialled 911. 


	33. Binding the Shards

Chapter 33 - Binding the Shards.  
  
"This is Officer Brian O'Connor. I need a life flight rollout right away. I'm at highway mile marker." Brian rolled off their location. "I have a male trauma victim, 'bout 24, 'bout 6 foot, 200 pounds, deep lacerations to his right arm with arterial bleeding and a shotgun wound to his left flank." Vince made a funny noise and Brian looked down. "He's goin' into shock." Brian called as he tried to keep the belt he was using as a tourniquet on Vince's arm tight. Dom was staring at Brian like he wanted to kill him. They all knew the chopper would be there within 5 minutes.  
  
"God damn it Brian. What's gonna happen now?" Nyssa said as Mia mouthed to Dom that she hadn't known.  
  
"He's not gonna die Nyssa and that has to be all that matters right now." Brian said sadly. He figured that Vince was gonna do time. He had no way around that fact. If Vince didn't go to the hospital then he'd die and if he went to the hospital then he'd go to jail.  
  
"No it doesn't Brian. You played this team and you gotta decide now, are you a Toretto or a cop!" Nyssa screamed at him. She'd known Brian was a cop all along, but it hadn't been her place to say anything. Sometimes part of knowing what was going to happen in days to come was knowing when you couldn't say anything, when you had to deal with the knowledge all on your own. And knowing what Brian was had been one of those things she'd had to keep bottled up inside.  
  
Brian looked confused. "What'doya mean?" What did she want him to decide now? Dom looked ready to throttle him.  
  
"Were you gonna turn us in." She shouted at him. Brian noticed that she included herself in the team, that she was willing to take responsibility for what they'd done even though they'd done it pretty much with out her, and it had never been her idea, she hadn't been around the team when they'd started to do these jobs.  
  
"I don't.Yes.No.I don't know Nyssa."  
  
"Tell me now!" She screamed. She had a plan but she had to know. "I can fix this Brian but not if you're gonna turn us, turn them in!" Her voice was so shrill that it was hard to understand her but Brian got it.  
  
"I'll work wit you Nyssa." He made the decision in a snap. He'd flipped and Dom and his family were more important now. Mia was more important.  
  
"Good." She smiled at Brian. She'd known that his love of Dom and Mia was more to him then the police force, but he'd had to make that decision on his own. "Dom, leave. NOW!" She yelled when he didn't move.  
  
"I'm not leaving him." Dom looked belligerent, and looked at Vince.  
  
"Yeah, you are. You guys all get outta here. Go home. Wait for Jesse. You can't be here. You have like 2 minutes to bounce Dom, go. I'll fix this. Go! Get in the fuckin' car and bounce." She shouted at him. Dom started to move. "Mia, go with him honey. It's gonna be fine." Mia was in such shock, Nyssa was almost more worried for her then for Vince. Vince was too strong and stubborn not to make it out of this. Mia on the other hand was more fragile and she'd just seen her childhood friend shot and found out the man she loved was playing her whole family the first 5 months or so she'd known him.  
  
"You can fix this?" Dom didn't know how.  
  
"Yes, if you fucken leave already! Go Dom. I'm going to make up a story. That Civic has to disappear. You go find Jesse and send Letty and Leon to loose the Civic in a way that it'll never show up again. I mean it Dom, it has to be like it fell of the earth. If anyone finds any part of it, that part better be beyond tracing. Got it?"  
  
"Ok, yeah I got it."  
  
"Take Mia with you." She said with the best smile she could manage for Mia's sake.  
  
"Go with Dominic Mia. It's gonna be ok. But you need to go home and wait for Jesse." Nyssa tried to smile for Mia's benefit. She had this feeling again that Mia had to be home when Jesse came back. Mia had to be there. "Mia, go wit Dom. It's all gonna be fine. We'll talk it all out tonight when it's over sweetie, just go with Dom." Mia looked at Nyssa, and Nyssa could tell she was in shock. Mia stood up.  
  
"Good luck." Dom ran for the car, hauling poor Mia with him. Mia turned to look at them before Dom yelled at her and she climbed in with Letty.  
  
"Brian. This is how it has to go down ok."  
  
"I'm listening." Brian didn't know how she was gonna fix this. He was the cop and he didn't have a clue what could be done to fix this.  
  
"Give me your cell." He did. She made a call. "Uncle Steve? It's Nyssa. I can't really go into it right now but I've been in a car wreck and so have some of my friends and because of how the cars were wrecked they need to disappear. I mean forever and untraceable, they have to be gone like Atlantis." Her uncle said something back. "They're along highway 5, one's rolled in the ditch and the other's on the side of the road with shotgun holes in it. Neither are driveable. So they're as good as gone? Perfect. Thanks Steve. No, I'm gonna be fine if those cars disappear. Yeah, I'll see you when I unravel all this shit. Don't say anything to Daddy, he'll worry. Just make the cars go away." She hung up. "Brian."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Here's the deal ok?"  
  
"I'm listening." Poor Vince was trying to stay conscious long enough to hear this in case they questioned him. He had to know what she'd cooked up to save their asses. He put his trust in her completely. If this could be fixed Nyssa could do it. She continued on.  
  
"Vince an I were kidnapped two hours ago by a trucker at a rest stop somewhere close to racewars when we stopped for gas. I had Dom's cell phone on me and I called you on it to tell you where I thought we were, but I couldn't talk long because I was scared the trucker would hear me and I had no idea where we were to tell you. Then the trucker got mad that we had no money on us, nothing of value, beat up Vince then shot him when he fought back, then beat up me when Vince was out of the way. Then he left us for dead here on the side of the road. You used the cell phone trace to find us and then you called for the ambulance."  
  
"That's genius Nyssa."  
  
"Only if I'm right and that trucker had some reason why he didn't stop and didn't radio the police. I have this feeling that he was hauling something that he couldn't let the cops know about. But I mean it Brian, no one's taken' them from me Brian. I mean it. This isn't just a team to me this is a family and I'm not knowin' that they're all in jail over this. You know Mia could go down too, for, what's that cop term, obstructing justice and for accessory after the fact. You want to know she went to jail 'causea you?" Nyssa felt bad for saying this stuff to Brian but it had to be said. "You shoulda either did your job or told your boss you couldn't do it. You got in too deep and don't think I'm not pissed as hell at you over this." Brian looked upset. "But I really think you're doin' the right thing now and this buncha hot headed men is never gonna do anything like this again." She said with a loving smile at Vince. He wasn't doing too good but she still held tight to the belief that he was too damn stubborn to die when he had so many more years of making her life interesting to look forward to. The chopper arrived and they loaded Vince and Nyssa into it. They didn't ask any questions but Nyssa knew they'd come later. The paramedic's job was just to keep them alive. They cops would be waiting for them at the hospital no doubt.  
  
Brian took off in the Supra and headed back to Dom's. He had to keep his end up. He had to go to the house and explain the story to the team. He wondered how they'd explain away Letty's injuries and why the trucker hadn't radioed in the attack on his truck. But he hadn't.  
  
Nyssa was holding Vince's good hand while the paramedics worked over him. Someone poked her in the side and she cried out, they'd gotten her on the left of her body and she was in agony there. She only held on because she knew Vince needed her to be strong. She was close to passing out but she wanted to hold on to consciousness for Vince's sake. Or that's what she told herself. Vince had gotten worse and in reality she was scared if she passed out she'd wake up to a doctor or one of the team telling her that Vince had died. She thought if she just held on to her consciousness and to his hand that everything would be ok.  
  
"Miss, are you ok?" One of the men asked her.  
  
"I'm fine, just take carea him." Nyssa said, the look on her face must have given her away, plus the condition of her face. The man didn't listen to her and forced her down on the other stretcher. Then he hauled her shirt up. She was a bloody, black and purple mess. She had intense bruising on her ribs, lower abdomen and left hip. She was in bad shape really and the paramedic wondered how she'd kept herself awake and aware of what was going on. She was in just as bad if not worse shape then her boyfriend.  
  
"You've got at least two broken ribs." The man told her and then probed her lower belly. She gasped and nearly fainted from the pain. "And you're bleeding internally." The paramedic told her. They had to get her into an OR, she'd need surgery to find the bleeder or she'd bleed to death, all without ever showing a drop of blood on the outside of her skin.  
  
"I'm fine." Nyssa said.  
  
"No you're not Miss. You need to let us start an IV and start giving you blood or you could bleed to death. Please lay back down." The man tried to force her down but she fought him off. She had to stay awake, had to stay with V. She couldn't let him go. She just couldn't. It didn't matter what they'd said. She'd just been in a car accident, she couldn't be hurt that bad. She thought she heard Vince speak. She leaned over him.  
  
"Did you say somethin' baby?" She asked him.  
  
"Yeah," he croaked out softly, "if I have ta let these fucks poke and prod me then so do you. I can't loose you because you were too stubborn to let someone help you when you needed it baby girl. I'll be fine, let them help you too." He didn't even know how bad she'd really gotten hurt, but he'd listened to every word she'd said to the punk, he knew the story he had to play along with. With that said he tried to look at Nyssa to make sure she was ok and watched as she promptly fainted. "Help her!" He said.  
  
"Just calm down sir, now that she's out cold she'll be easier to help." The paramedic stated as they started to work over Nyssa. "How'd she get these injuries?" They asked Vince. They had to know to help her, or know how she might have been injured.  
  
"We got beaten up by some punk." Vince said then passed out himself from the loss of blood and the sedatives and pain killers they'd given him.  
  
Brian squealed up to the Toretto house and jumped out of his car. Dom was loading weapons into the charger.  
  
"Come on Dom, put the gun down, no more running." Brian shouted.  
  
"Move your car." Dom said in the calmest voice Brian had ever heard him use and it just showed how very not calm he was.  
  
"No Dom, I haven't called the cops but don't push me."  
  
"You're the cop Brian. You're a fuckin cop!" Dom shouted. "I gotta find Jesse before they do. I'm all the kid's got." Dom said. "Now move your car."  
  
"Dom enough!" Mia yelled from the porch.  
  
"Dom, Nyssa and I fixed it. It's gonna be ok. I'll call in the plates and PD'll pick him up long before Tran ever finds him."  
  
Jesse squealed to a stop in front of the house. "Dom I'm so scared right now."  
  
"Jesse, what were you thinkin'?" Dom asked as he threw down the gun.  
  
"I panicked. Dom I am so scared." Jesse was clearly terrified, shaking and stuttering. They all heard the crotch rockets at the same time, the Tran's came out of no where and shot the place up, hitting Jesse. His body jerked in the air and then lay so still on the sidewalk. As soon as the shots started to go Dom got down on all fours and flew toward Jesse. Mia fell down and hid in the corner of the step.  
  
"Jesse!" Mia screamed as the boy fell. Dom ran to Jesse's prone form and pulled him into his arms. Brian almost cried. He'd brought some of this onto the team by not doing his job. If he'd simply done his job then Dom would be in jail right now and no one would be hurt. Nyssa was totally right. But he couldn't send Dom to jail. He had to fix this as best as he could. He was helping them. He'd decided to be loyal to his team. That was all that mattered. He'd just have to hope they'd still have him when this was all settled. He jumped in the supra and took off after Tran as Dom did the same in his charger.  
  
Mia called 911. This was why she had to be home. She had to be here for Jesse. Mia felt a shiver come down her spine and made all the fine hairs on her body stand up on end. Vince didn't pick Nyssa up just cause she was there that night at the races, he picked her up because fate stepped in and sent her to them. They'd needed her just as much as she'd honestly needed them. Mia tried to keep hold of herself for Jesse's sake. The ambulance came and took over for her as she'd been trying to keep pressure on the wounds. She had Jesse taken to the hospital. He was still alive but no one could say for how long. He wasn't in good shape.  
  
He took three bullets. All missed his vital organs but they did cause a lot of damage none the less and also caused him to loose a lot of blood. He was in a coma and no one could say if he'd ever wake up. But he wasn't dead. That was all Mia could hold on to. She had no idea what kind of shape Vince or Nyssa was in. She was so torn. Her whole world was flipped upside down in the space of 12 hours. She sat down in the hospital waiting room on the floor against the wall and just sobbed.  
  
Leon came in and sat beside her. "What's wrong girl?" He asked.  
  
"Leon, what're you doin' here?"  
  
"Brought Letty. She's hurt. But she's gonna be fine. What're you doin' here?"  
  
"Oh Leon." She didn't want to be the one to tell Leon about Jesse. They were so close, they'd been on the run together since Leon's mom left him and Jesse's dad went to prison. Leon looked out for Jesse since the younger man needed someone to look out for him and Jesse built the cars. It was hard not to feel protective of Jesse. But Leon was like a surrogate father or at least like an older brother to the boy. Mia wondered if Leon had gotten rid of the Civic. "Did you lose the..." She trailed off.  
  
"Yeah, it's all set. But what's really wrong Mia? What Mia? What happened?" Leon wondered what had Mia so upset. He wondered if Brian had gotten hurt, or if they'd had bad news about Vince or Nyssa.  
  
"Jesse came back to the house, begging Dom to help him fix the mess that his running off caused. But the Trans found him and shot up the house. Jesse got shot three times by the Trans."  
  
"Oh god. Not Jesse. Is he.?"  
  
"No, he's not. But it's not lookin' good either Leon. He's in a coma right now and they won't tell me he'll ever wake up. They say they don't know." Mia held Leon and the two cried over all that had happened to their team, their family, their lives in the last short time. Leon got himself together only minutes later but it felt like hours.  
  
"He'll be fine. His attention span's so short that god could call him and two seconds later Jess'd forget where he was supposed to go." Leon chuckled. Mia giggled, smiled through her tears. That was Jesse. She hoped Leon was right. "So did you hear anything about Vince and Nyssa?"  
  
"God Leon, I didn't even think to ask if they brought them here, I was so worried about Jesse. Let's go find a doctor and see if there's any news on Jesse then see if Nyssa and Vince are at this hospital."  
  
"Yeah, let's do that." Leon answered and helped Mia up off the floor.  
  
Brian took out Johnny Tran and Dom took out Lance. They raced the final strip of road. As they both cleared the train tracks less then a second before the train would have creamed them Dom hit, of all things, a transfer truck and the Charger was tossed like a bean bag into the air, did a 360 spin over Brian's car and landed, flipping over and turning the beautiful front end into a pile of twisted scrap metal. The whole car was a wreck and Brian was worried about Dom. Had the other man had his belt on?  
  
"Dom!" Brian called and his friend didn't move. Brian ran up to the car calling Dom's name. Dom turned to look at him with a slightly pained look on his face, slightly stunned as well.  
  
"That's how I woulda had mine." Dom said with a self depreciating grin as Brian helped him out of his once beautiful classic beast. The two men stood by the car for a second, Dom looking stoic and Brian worrying if the plan would work and if he was doing the right thing in this whole situation.  
  
Brian held out his keys to Dom. "Go, go home."  
  
"You know what you're doin'?" In his heart Dom had figured that Brian would turn them in. Once a cop always a cop. He'd never counted on Brian really caring about the team more then his career, once he'd known that Bri wasn't a down on his luck racer.  
  
"I own you a 10 second car, plus I got this. It's gonna be ok, but you gotta get outta here. You're getting told that a lot today huh? I took you're charger ok. You took the supra after I shot Johnny, you tried to stop me. We were at racewars till Nyssa called to tell us that her'n Vince were in trouble ok. You need to remember that Dom. Got it?"  
  
"I got it Brian. I trusted you once, I hope I'm not making a worse mistake doin' it again."  
  
"You're not, but go." They could hear sirens. Dom took off. He really hoped that Brian was what he appeared to be.  
  
AN: Getting close to the end now I think. :) Hope all the people really reading this are enjoying it still. I wanted to share this with you all.It's just curious to me so if anyone cares to leave their take on it in a review I'd be much obliged. I got this 'review' on this story.  
  
dude that was the gayest scrypt ever. holy crap i almost shit my pants that so terrible. do us all a favor and dont write anything for a while.  
  
Am I writing a script? Is it possible that I'm writing a scrypt and didn't even know? What is a scrypt? Should I stop writing? Do I suck? Maybe I should kill this story off? LOL, just thought you all might get as big a laugh out of this as I did. Then the same person was silly enough to send me harassing emails from what appears to be their real email account.  
  
arrowsmith1@attbi.com hey dumass. the last line in the fast in the furious by dom was thats not what i had in mind. not thats not how i would have had mine. before you think your high and mighty by typing a "mistake you found" study the problem more carefully. dont just blow it your ass.  
  
sincerely, better than than you  
  
They go on to say.  
  
arrowsmith1@attbi.com oh and another thing, all your stupid scrypts eat shit. there gay. dont waste space on this website with wannabe loser shit  
  
Does this make sense to anyone? I'm so confused, it's very strange to be both puzzled and laughing your butt off at the same time. I mean, if she's gonna call me a dumbass she could at least spell the dumb part right. I think sentences start with capitals, or is that just me? I think I is a capital too. I think that the name of a movie is both in quotes or underlined, as well as having capitals, I think it's you're in this case, I don't own high or mighty. I never claimed to have found a mistake anywhere, I also believe it's don't not dont. I don't think that last thing in the first email is even a sentence in the English language. Also, I still don't think I write scripts or, as the case may be scrypts. Wouldn't it by they're? Can a script even be gay? I guess if it's a comedy it could be happy but I think the part of the movie I'm dealing with here is pretty morose really. Who's gay is it? The way it's written it must be someone's. Am I a wannabe loser? Maybe, anyone else agree? I just had to chuck that up there, I was laughing my ass off over someone criticizing me this bad with this many spelling, grammar and just general bad taste errors, But anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the story and got a laugh out that other stuff. I know I did. :) 


	34. Of Course I Still Love You

Chapter 34 - Of Course I Still Love You.  
  
AN: Ok, well, here's the next chapter. Wow, no more flames or nasty email. It's been a good week. Hope you all enjoy the update, let me know either way. Peace.  
  
When the cops came to the scene of the car crash Brian started their plan in motion. He told the cops that came that he'd wrecked the charger, that he'd taken it to chase after Tran. They seemed to accept the story, even though they had asked how he got off so light for injuries. He told them simply that the car had been built by a stock car driver and that it was designed to be safe as possible. They took it at face value. When they asked him where his supra was the told them he suspected Dom took it to try to find Jesse, not knowing that Brian had already found him. Brian then went home to find the house deserted. However Dom had actually thought to leave him a note.  
  
Brian,  
  
We're at the hospital since it seems that everyone but me and Leon's been admitted. I don't know what I think about what you did, but I can't complain about how you ended it. You're alright and I think that we're all going to be fine. I think that you should come down here. Mia's not as strong as she'd like to think and she needs you right now. I can see that. I hope you really had the feelings for her I thought you did, if not I'll really break your neck. I wasn't joking. I really do hope I see you soon. You became part of our team and it wouldn't be the same without you. For some reason you and I, we just clicked. Now burn this before anyone knows I ever, ever thought any of this stuff, let alone wrote it down.  
  
Dominic.  
  
Brian smiled, then he folded the note up really small and put it in his wallet, behind the picture of Mia he had there. He had to hold on to that note to remember what it said when the shit hit the fan as it was bound to do. Everything was going to be fine. He took the liberty of taking Mia's car to the hospital. He parked and walked in. He walked up to the nurse at the desk.  
  
"I'm here looking for The Toretto family, Nyssa Williams, Jesse Ames, and Vincent Castaletto, either some of or all of the above." Brian gave her his brightest smile.  
  
"Well, the Toretto's that aren't hurt should be in the waiting room on the third floor. That's where Miss Williams and Mr. Castaletto are, as well as one Miss Rodriguez. However Mr. Ames is in intensive care and can't have visitors yet." The nurse returned his smile.  
  
"Thanks." Brian made for the elevators. He hit the third floor button and began to try and get himself ready for what was to come. He knew the whole team would be mad at him for what he'd done. He knew it couldn't be helped. At least Jesse was alive, Brian sighed mentally. He was not looking forward to the meeting to come. Dom was still likely to deck him for what he'd done, even if he still wanted him around. Brian felt he deserved it in a way. As Nyssa had told him, he should have done his job or not done his job, not done it in the half assed manner he had.  
  
The elevator chimed on the third floor and Brian groaned. He didn't want to do this, didn't want to face Dom, didn't want to face Mia, didn't want to see Nyssa with stuff hooked up to her, didn't want to see Letty anything less then her arrogant self. Didn't want to find out if poor, hard headed Vince lost his arm. He really didn't want to see Jesse, and got angry at himself for being happy the boy couldn't have visitors yet. Brian had seen more then his fair share of death and injury on the force but never that of his own family. And the team was family now, he couldn't deny the fact. He didn't want to see Jesse unconscious and with no one knowing if he'd ever wake up again.  
  
He found the waiting room and stood in the door. Only Mia was in the room. She looked shocked, stunned. Brian realized it had been a hell of a day for everyone, but especially for Mia. Dom and his crew were rowdy and rough and tumble, they were use to taking their knocks. Maybe not quite this hard, but they knew how to roll with the punches. Mia, well, sure she knew about some of the stuff the guys did, but she didn't ever really have to deal with it first hand. And dealing with something, and knowing about it happening were too separate things. He took a deep breath, hoping she still loved him. He couldn't blame her if she didn't.  
  
"Mia?" He asked from the door. He'd never been so unsure of himself. He was, by nature, a pretty confident guy. But right now he felt so insecure about himself, both as a person, and as Mia's boyfriend. She'd fallen for Brian Spilner, the down on his luck racer who worked for Harry and then wielded a wrench for her brother. Could she love Brian O'Connor the LAPD detective, or former detective? She looked up, tears in her eyes, and tracks from them down her cheeks. He took a hesitant step into the room, unsure of his welcome there.  
  
"Oh Brian." She cried and launched herself at him. He caught her with a soft 'umph' at the force of her impact then just shushed her and smoothed her hair while she sobbed. She still loved him. As long as Mia loved him everything would be ok. If he had Mia everything else would work itself out.  
  
"It's gonna be ok Mia. Everything's gonna be fine." He crooned to her in the voice he used, or had used now he guessed, to calm people down after accidents and such. He figured his days of police work were long over. "Come on, let's go sit down." He steered her over to a chair and tried to sit her in it but she clung to him and wouldn't let go. He ended up sitting himself and pulling her into his lap. "It's ok Mia." He just kept talking to her, he knew it didn't really matter what he said. He didn't know why Dom and the others left her here alone. "Where's Dom?" He asked her when she seemed a slight amount more in control.  
  
"With Letty." She answered. "Brian I."  
  
"We don't need to talk about this now Mia, it'll keep if you want."  
  
"I just need to know that you really had feeling for me, I.I can't wonder about that."  
  
"Mia. I meant what I said. Everything I ever said I felt for you is real. I love you." Brian kissed her forehead. Mia started to cry again. "Why the tears?" Brian asked. Dom stopped just inside the door of the room. The couple in the corner didn't notice him.  
  
"I'm just so happy you really love me." She sniffled.  
  
"Of course I really love you." Brian answered. "How could I not?"  
  
"Yeah, how could he not?" Dom asked from the door. He was very relieved to know that Brian really loved Mia. It was obvious that finding out that Brian hadn't really cared for her would have crushed her. Brian looked very nervous. Dom wondered if he'd found the note. "Brian." He said in way of a greeting.  
  
"Dom." Brian opened. "I'm so."  
  
"I know." Dom stopped him. "We can go into it in detail when everyone's home to hear it." Dom started. "Did everything you had to do seem to work out though?" Dom asked. He had to know that the cops weren't going to come for Vince, Letty and Nyssa. Brian knew what he meant.  
  
"Yeah, it's fine. Should be all set." Brian smiled a big goofy grin. It had gone well with the cops. Not perfect but he'd lied and told them he'd found nothing and as far as he could tell the story that Vince and Nyssa had given checked out. So, so far so good. Brian was almost giddy with relief that Mia still loved him and Dom wasn't going to kill him. "How's the girls and Vince?"  
  
"Well, Letty's been hurt worse, she got off lucky. They're letting her out later in the evening. She's got a busted rib, and she hurt her arm, but it'll be good as new in a few weeks. She'll be a bit black and blue for awhile too, but she's started fights where she got hurt worse." Dom started. "Vince, well, V's too stubborn not to be ok. But the doctors say they saved his arm and that the shotgun missed all his vitals. They think he'll be fine inside of two weeks. To go home at least. He'll need therapy." Dom's face turned, he lost some of his brashness, his brazen attitude that made him Dom Toretto. He was so guilty over the next bit that he hated to tell Brian, but it had to be told. "It's still iffy for Nyssa. She had a lot of injuries. More then we'd ever have guessed. She passed out in the chopper with Vince. She has three broken ribs, a bruised liver and kidney, a nasty concussion, and some severe bruising on her hips and stomach. She lost a lot of blood internally and she still hasn't woken up." Dom had let her go with them; in the end he knew he could have stopped it, if he'd just said no to Vince and Nyssa when she said she was riding along. However it was her being there that kept them all out of jail.  
  
"What about Jesse?" Brian had to ask.  
  
"Jesse. Well, they don't know much about Jesse either. No one will tell us anything. They figure Nyssa'll be fine eventually but they won't even guess on Jesse. He lost a lot of blood." Dom smiled softly at Mia. "But it was Mia here who made sure he even made it this far. She called 911 like a sane person and did everything possible while she waited for EMS, while we took off after Tran. All we can do is hope."  
  
"I can't believe Nyssa was hurt that bad. She seemed so together while we waited for the chopper. So she never regained consciousness?" Brian felt so guilty now, just like Dom, for everything. Nyssa would be fine if he hadn't screwed up.  
  
"Yeah, I don't know how she held on but thank god she did." Dom sat down. "Neither of 'em are talkin' to me." He sighed.  
  
"What do you mean? Who's not talkin' to you?" Brian didn't get it, who wasn't talking to Dom and why.  
  
"Letty and Nyssa. Well, Nyssa wasn't before she passed out, unless it was to yell at me and Letty hasn't spoken to me since.Well, since a while ago. And she's awake in her room but she still won't speak to me." He lowered his voice. "Letty got in a fight at race wars, by the way." Dom added to explain how Letty got hurt in case Brian had to know for what was to come. "She blames me for what happened. Hell, I blame me too, but Nyssa, she blamed me too. They just looked at me in the car. I am to blame too, they're right." Dom hung his head. Mia didn't have anything to say. She'd warned Dom, she'd asked him not to go. If he'd just listened then none of this would have happened. Brian didn't see it that way, or not totally that way.  
  
"It's not your fault Dom. Well, not totally." Brian started.  
  
"I forced them Brian. They all wanted to give up, forget it. All but Vince. And even I know that Vince would follow any of us into hell if he thought that we'd need him there to protect us. But I wouldn't let them stop. I made them do it anyway. This is my fault." Brian looked at Dom then looked around to make sure the door was closed and no one outside the room could hear. Then he tried to reassure his friend.  
  
"Dom, we all had our parts. After you left Nyssa said something to me and she's right. I had a job to do. And I didn't do it. Once I realized that I couldn't do the job, that I was in too deep, that no matter what I couldn't finish what I was sent to do I should have told my bosses and gotten pulled off the case. I mean either that or I should have taken the proof I had and turned you guys in. I played both sides and that makes me responsible too. If I'd done my job in the first place you might all be in jail, but no one would be hurt. I'm glad I didn't do it, but then again, now everyone's hurt." Brian rested his chin on the top of Mia's head dejectedly and sighed.  
  
"Everyone went along and did it and everyone has responsibility. Yeah, Vince would follow any of the team anywhere if he thought they might need his protection, or if he thought he'd get to fight out of it, but the simple fact of the matter is no one is a child. Any one of us could have decided not to do it and then just not done it." Mia stated and then looked at the two men. "And now let's never speak of it again. I want to go see Nyssa and Letty." She stood up and held her hand out to Brian. "Comin'?"  
  
"Sure." Brian stood up. He had no desire to see any of the team in hospital gowns and having stuff plugged into them. But this was part of the responsibility, these people needed to know that he was still here and still cared for them.  
  
They walked into the first room that Mia pointed out and Brian cringed away from the first sight he saw, which was Nyssa, unconscious in a hospital bed. Her face was almost totally black down the whole left side of her face. Her left arm was in a splint and there were monitors hooked up to her. She also had an IV and other stuff that Brian couldn't identify. "Oh man." He breathed out. This looked bad. "Nyssa." He walked away from Mia and to her bedside. He picked up her good hand and looked down at the still form of the formerly vibrate and outspoken girl he'd come to care for. Mia joined him and took his other hand.  
  
"She's gonna be fine."  
  
"I hope so Mia, but this looks so bad. She's not even awake."  
  
"Well Brian, she just came out of surgery like two hours ago. That's really pretty normal." Mia had been taking pre-med in school and she had a fair idea what she was talking about.  
  
"I hope you're right Mia."  
  
"Are you guys gonna stand over the unconscious girl all day or is someone gonna ask me how I am." Letty said from the other bed in the room. They knew she was teasing to hide just how much Nyssa's condition was affecting her.  
  
"Letty." Brian smiled. Letty wasn't any different now then she had been last night when he'd seen her last.  
  
"Hey Letty." Mia exclaimed. "How you livin'?" Mia asked, throwing her own line back at the other girl.  
  
"I'm livin' which is more then I can say for Nyssa." Letty's face fell. "It's not fair that I got off so easy and she got hurt so bad. I mean we were both in the same accident, and it was my car. Why should she be the one who got hurt really bad when I was the one driving? She saved our asses and now she's hurt really bad. It's not fair. It's not fair and it's all Dom's fault." Letty said, and wonder of wonders a tear ran down her cheek.  
  
"Letty, it wouldn't be better if you were hurt and not Nyssa. It's too bad that anyone had to be hurt but that's what happened. And it's not all Dom's fault. We all had our parts to play." Brian said with a small smile.  
  
"Yeah, it's as much anyone's fault. We all have to share that responsibility. You're not innocent Letty and you know it. You wanted the money as bad as anyone. Dom shoulda listened when we all told him not to go, but when he got to do it 5 times before with no troubles and we all went along with it at first." Mia put it in simple and sure terms for them all. "Besides, she's gonna be fine. She looks like she's worse off then she is." Mia said and took Letty's hand. "Try to think about not being too hard on Dominic. He's being hard enough on himself without needing to worry that you don't love him anymore Letty."  
  
"He doesn't love me. If he did he would have listened to me."  
  
"Letty, Dom loves you. He may not show it well, but he does love you." Brian added. "And if we all take care of each other then everything will be ok."  
  
"Deep Brian. True, but deep." Letty grinned. "At least I get outta here today, and I think this is worth, what, a week of Dom waiting on me?"  
  
Brian and Mia grinned back. "At least." Mia answered. "Where's V?" Mia asked. He must still be unconscious too or he'd never have accepted being separated from Nyssa like this. Brian looked nervous about the thought of Mia wanting to see her childhood pal. He didn't know if he'd walk out in the same shape he walked into the room in if Vince was awake to see him. Mia took Brian by the hand.  
  
"He's in the room across the hall. I'd haveta think that Dom'll be in there too. He's hardly left V's side. I think he knows that Vince didn't want to do this, but didn't think he had a choice just because of how he is. I mean it was fine for all of us to think this was all fun and fast driving but Vince was the one in real danger the whole time, and that wasn't fair." Letty sighed.  
  
"But Vince is gonna be alright isn't he?" Brian asked. Letty and Mia were touched by his obvious concern for a man who hated him.  
  
"From what we're told, yeah, he's gonna be fine." Letty was quick to reassure them. They said good-bye to Letty for the time being and headed across the hall.  
  
"Maybe I'll just let you go in and I'll go wait in the waiting room for you." Brian tried to get out of going into the room any way he could. He told himself he didn't want to fight with Vince, upset him. But in his heart he wasn't so sure that was the reason. He thought that it might even have more to do with not wanting to see Vince hurt. He'd seen Vince hurt at the scene of course, but the other man had still been in his own clothes, and wide awake. Now he was likely to be unconscious in a hospital gown. Brian would rather think of Vince as the foolish, larger then life, nothings too hard, confident friend of Dom's then have to see just how mortal Vince really was. Brian didn't want to have to face his part of this whole situation. But if Dom could do it then so could he.  
  
"You'll need to face him sometime Bri." Mia said and took him into the room. Sure enough Dom was sitting with his friend. Vince also had monitors and IV lines hooked up to him. Brian cringed away from the sight. Dom caught the motion.  
  
"He's going to be fine." Dom said, it sounded like he was trying to reassure himself just as much as he was Brian. "Looks worse then it is."  
  
"God man, this is just such a mess." Brian hung his head. Mia squeezed his hand.  
  
"He hasn't woken yet?" Mia asked her brother.  
  
"No. Should be any time now." Dom stated. "What about the girls?"  
  
"Well, Letty's ready to go now of course." Brian said with a grin at the thought of Letty. The girl was so sure of herself. Some things just never changed. Then he thought of Nyssa again. "But Nyssa, she still didn't even show any sign of knowing we were there." Dom sighed from deep in his chest. "I think you might want to go try talkin' to Letty again." Brian added. Dom nodded and left the room. "You wanna sit wit him for awhile Mia?" Brian asked her.  
  
"No, I think it's best to just let him rest. We'll go say goodbye to Dom and Letty and then go home." Mia looked wilted to Brian. She was likely at her breaking point. Brian realized she'd been holding things together here all afternoon and she really was likely about to drop. It was Dom's job to hold the family together but with his girl and his best friend out of commission Dom likely hadn't been much help at holding things together. It had likely fallen to Mia to do. And now she was ready to have someone else take care of her. Brian took her hand and led her out of the room and back across the hall.  
  
"We're going home guys. See you both there later?" Brian asked.  
  
"Count on it." Letty answered back. She couldn't wait to go home. Dom just nodded without taking his eyes off Letty.  
  
"They gonna be ok?" Brian asked once they were in Mia's car.  
  
"Sure. They'll be alright. Might take some time." Mia said and leaned her head way back into the head rest.  
  
"It's been one hell of a day, huh?" Brian asked her.  
  
"You don't know the half of it." Mia answered. "What made you decide not to turn us in?" She couldn't wait to know all of a sudden.  
  
"You." Brian answered and then elaborated. "I fell for you. Plus I like Dom. I always did. I should have known better then to stay on a case when I respected and liked my mark and plus fell in love with his sister. You'll never know how scared I was when I thought about the fact that you fell for Spilner. Brian O'Connor was a stranger to you. I was so worried that you might not want the real me."  
  
"Is the real you that different from the you I already know?" Mia asked.  
  
"I don't think so. And that just tells you how much too deep I went. One of the first things they teach you when you learn to be a detective is to make up a personally for the duration of the assignment and don't let the real you and the undercover personality mix. I just couldn't do it with you guys. The real me just clicked too well."  
  
"I'm glad." Mia answered him simply and then fell asleep in the seat. She hadn't slept in some time and she was tired. Brian carried her to bed and fell in with her, exhausted. Letty and Dom came home later and made up, like they always did. Only this time things were different. Dom wasn't sure he was immortal any more. The days events had driven home to him just how fickle life could be. Three members of his team were still not awake in the hospital and one of them might never be awake again.  
  
Jesse. Thinking of Jesse almost made Dom cry. And Dom hadn't cried in a long time. But he almost did whenever he thought of Jesse. Of course Jesse shouldn't have done what he'd done, shouldn't have raced for something he couldn't afford to lose. But Tran was just such an asshole. He'd never thought of anyone else. Even when Dom and Johnny hadn't hated each other. There had been a time when the two men had gotten along, had done business. But then as it often did, business went bad and the friendship went away. Sleeping with his sister hadn't been smart either. But Dom also knew that the reason why Johnny had come after Jesse with the intent to kill him wasn't the Jetta, Johnny couldn't have cared less about that car, it had been the humiliating beating Dom had layed on him in front of that whole crowd of people.  
  
So because Dom had to fight, as Dom often did, Jesse might never wake up again. Jesse. Jesse wasn't innocent, but he sure could fool you. He didn't have a mean or malicious bone in him, never thought a bad thing about anyone and would do anything for the team, for Dom. And Dom couldn't help but think they'd all let Jesse down. Maybe Dom more then anyone but still the whole team had a part in that too. Instead of chasing him down right away they'd waited, let Jesse run away. They knew they had the job to do that night and it was almost like they'd allowed that to mean more to them then getting Jesse home safe. A tear slipped out of the corner of his eye and made it's slow, silvery way down his cheek, slipped off his chin and onto Letty's shoulder. He'd been watching her sleep while he thought.  
  
As though she'd felt the small splash on her golden skin her eyes opened and she saw the glittery streak on his face, watched as another tear made it's way like mercury in the moonlight down his face. She knew in that moment that if this all affected Dom like this, if this made her man cry, that he wasn't as unaffected as he'd convinced even her that he'd been. She opened her arms to the love of her life and he fell into them, his head in the crook of her shoulder while he sobbed for Vince, Nyssa, herself, and most of all she knew, for Jesse. She showed him she still loved him the best way she knew how, and he slept, letting her hold him for a change, and it comforted her. It should have done the opposite, Dom had always been her rock. But the fact that he needed her to comfort him, that he needed her at all, really needed her, reassured her that their relationship was worth the work. She slept with a smile on her face and her man in her arms, despite the day that waited for them all.  
  
Mia woke first the next day and went through the house waking the people who were home. They ate a subdued breakfast then headed back to the hospital. They all first checked on Vince. Who was awake. That was surprising to them all, but was a good sign as well. Vince was giving a nurse hell when they walked into his room, both about the quality and quantity of his breakfast, and about the whereabouts of Nyssa.  
  
"If he can bitch, then he's gonna be fine." Dom laughed from the door. Mia and Letty giggled and Brian tried not to smirk. He didn't know how much of a welcome he was going to get from Vince. He'd saved the other man's life, sure, but that didn't mean Vince had to like him.  
  
Vince snarled at Dom. "Get me outta here."  
  
"Not so fast. You're really hurt this time Vince. It's not like a few days of bed rest is gonna fix this." Dom said, but he smiled. He hadn't expected anything else of his best friend.  
  
"I'm fine." Vince said, then winced as he moved his leg on the side he was shot on.  
  
"Yeah, you look fine Coyote." Letty laughed.  
  
"Shut up." Vince growled. They all laughed at him. "And they won't tell me where Nyssa is." Vince watched as everyone's face's fell. "Well, where is she?" He was starting to panic. Mia'd checked on the way in. Nyssa was still unconscious. Mia sat on the edge of the bed after Brian gave her a reassuring squeeze.  
  
"She didn't wake up yet V. She lost a lot of blood." Mia said softly.  
  
"But she's gonna be fine right?" Vince asked, worry showing plainly on his face. He didn't think he wanted to go on without his girl.  
  
"They think so, yeah." Brian answered.  
  
"They think so." Vince snarled.  
  
"They're doin' everything they can V." Dom tried to reassure him.  
  
"I wanna see her." The famous stubborn look was on his face, the team knew they weren't winning this argument.  
  
"I don't think so sir, not right now." The nurse answered.  
  
"Too fuckin' bad what you think. I'm gonna see her. Where is she?" He asked Dom.  
  
"Vince, give it another day man."  
  
"I want to see her." Vince moved to get up. He was going to find her if he had to search the whole hospital.  
  
"Sir, really. You need to calm down. There's no way you can go anywhere for another few days. Then you can go for a tour of the hospital.  
  
"If you think I'm gonna be here in a few days you can think again." Vince was clearly very upset.  
  
"You may as well let him go over there in a wheelchair or somethin'." Letty told the poor nurse. "He's not gonna shut up till you give him his way. He still thinks he's five." Vince gave her a nasty look but he ended up getting his way and he got pushed into the room across the hall. 


	35. I Hate It here

Chapter 35 - I hate it here  
  
AN: sorry for the delay but I had a lot of crap go down, check out the newest chapter of RIDE for all the details if you want 'em. On with the story.  
  
When Vince was wheeled into the other room he'd prepared himself for a lot of things. He had known she was hurt. But he still wasn't ready for what he saw. The sight that greeted him was not something he could have prepared himself for no matter what.  
  
"Can you leave us?" He asked. No one else had been admitted to the room after Letty had been released so at least that was possible. The team all looked at each other, wondering if leaving them was a good idea. Vince had just been through a traumatic experience, and now he saw how bad Nyssa was hurt. They didn't know how well he was taking it. They were worried about if he could handle it. "Please?" He added.  
  
They agreed with another look and then they all filed out of the room. Once he was alone with Nyssa he picked up her good hand, the one without stuff plugged into it. He couldn't believe that he was so much recovered but Nyssa was still out cold. He really couldn't believe how bad she looked. Her face was so bruised. He didn't remember her looking as bad before he'd succumbed to the pain killers himself. He trailed one finger down the normal side of her face. At least they hadn't had to cut her hair off, she hadn't had any sort of serious head injury.  
  
It just wasn't fair. The whole situation wasn't fair. And he knew that most of the blame rested squarely on him and Dom. It had been Dom's idea to accept the offer to be the team that popped the trucks, that much was true, but everyone had gone along with it. But that last job, they all protested but him. Dom might have listened and not done the job if Vince had only said no. Dom and Vince had that kind of relationship, plus if Vince had said he wasn't doing it then it really wouldn't have happened.  
  
Much as it pained him to admit, he had to be thankful for Brian. Brian had kept them all out of jail. Sure, Nyssa came up with the plan, not Brian. But Brian had gone along with it, had implemented it, and had sold it to his peers it seemed. Brian had told Dom that the cops weren't after them. Plus Vince had no idea what would have happened to him if Brian hadn't gotten him off that truck. Dom's car had been dead, totally without compression, and the girls had flipped theirs. He would have been waiting for Leon to come and get him.  
  
Plus if Brian hadn't of thought so fast and called for the chopper both he and Nyssa would likely be dead. He brushed some hair off her face. He started to talk to her. He didn't know if she could hear him or not but it didn't really matter.  
  
"I'm so sorry baby. I never shoulda let you come. I shoulda made you wait with Mia. I should have listened to you girls when you said it was wrong. Now you're hurt and it's mostly my fault." He continued on, telling her he was sorry.  
  
Nyssa could hear Vince telling her how sorry he was, but she couldn't speak, she couldn't surface from the place she was. It was the most frustrating thing, infuriating. But she'd been alone so long she was glad of his company, glad of the familiar sound of his voice. But she wanted to tell him it was ok, that she didn't blame him and that he shouldn't blame himself, but she couldn't get the words out, couldn't open her eyes. Everything happened for a reason, she knew that, but it was so frustrating for her. Then oblivion sucked her back in and she stopped feeling anything at all.  
  
Vince was sure that she'd been about to speak to him, but he shook his head, that was crazy. Wasn't it? While he was just speaking to her in low tones he heard the door open. The doctor walked in and over to the other side of the bed.  
  
"I hear you terrorized my staff till you got your way and jeopardized your own health just to come here and see for yourself that your friends weren't lying and the girl is in fact unconscious." The doctor asked, but he smiled slightly when he said it. It was often good for patients having trouble waking up to hear familiar voices, voices of people they would want to speak to. However the other man should not have been out of his bed yet.  
  
"I had to see her." Vince didn't feel like explaining himself any more then that. "Why hasn't she woken up?"  
  
"We don't really know, but it's fairly common in someone who lost as much blood as the young lady did. I suspect when her body repairs itself and replenishes more of the blood she lost she'll wake up."  
  
"That's a lot of guessing." Vince growled. How could they not have a better idea then that what was wrong with her?  
  
"Well, its educated guessing young man, her brain is fine, nothing abnormal about her brain activity or any swelling, her concussion is gone. She's going to be fine. I bet she's more upset about the scar she's going to have from where we fixed her kidney then she is about anything else when she wakes up." The kind doctor looked at the place where Vince and Nyssa's hands were still joined. "Just remember you're not much good to her or yourself if you end up making yourself ill trying to do more then you're capable of." With that he turned to leave the room.  
  
"Thanks man."  
  
"Just take care of her son, she's very lucky to be alive and so are you. Take care of each other."  
  
"We will." Vince said as the doctor left the room. And he meant it. He was never letting Nyssa do anything dangerous again. He couldn't live through this again. The team came back into the room then.  
  
"Doctor says you go back to your room now." Mia said and Vince allowed himself to be moved back to his own room. The rest of the week went by very swiftly. Nyssa never did wake up over the first 4 days they were there. After the 4 days they released Vince. But he didn't go home much anyway; he was always with Nyssa in her room. He was getting worried, no matter what the doctor said. He was released already but she still hadn't woken up and it didn't seem right.  
  
And poor Jesse was still in a coma too. Vince and the rest of the team lived a very solemn existence. They didn't want to allow themselves to be too happy because it seemed wrong to be happy when two of your best friends were still unconscious in the hospital.  
  
The doctors said that Nyssa should wake up any day because she was fidgeting in her bed more, and it just seemed like she wanted to wake up. Jesse, on the other hand was still not showing any signs of regaining consciousness. Vince spent most of his time with Nyssa, talking to her about anything and everything, but he spent time with Jesse too.  
  
More then once he was surprised to find Brian in Jesse's room talking to the boy. He was finding it harder and harder to hold on to his dislike of Brian. Brian could have easily saved his own ass and just turned them all in. As it was he was likely to loose his job over what he'd done for them. But Brian didn't seem to hold that against them. Plus he spent so much time with Jesse. He was there almost as much as Vince himself was in Nyssa's room.  
  
She had an itch on her right side that was driving her crazy. She wanted to scratch it but she couldn't move. She tried again. Then with a deep breath she came back to reality. Nyssa woke up disorientated and with things plugged into her. She'd known she was hurt but not as bad as she guessed it had ended up. She had a hard time moving because of all the stuff she was hooked up to. She finally got mobile and lifted the blankets and moved the hospital gown she was wearing out of the way and saw the stitches on her right lower abdomen. "Damn, that's gonna scar and not where my bathing suit will cover either" she said to herself out loud. She wondered how long she'd been out of it. She felt as weak as a new born. She looked to her left. There was Vince, sitting on the edge of the other bed, watching her expose herself to his view, laughing. He was dressed in his own clothes, the bastard, she thought.  
  
"I wondered when you were gonna come around sleeping beauty. The doctor said you'd be mad about the scar." He grinned. She was finally awake. He got up and walked over to the chair by her bed and sat down.  
  
"How long have I been out of it?" She asked and her voice came out all low and scratchy from not being used in so long, and from having breathing tubes in her throat at first.  
  
"Five days." Vince gave her a sly grin.  
  
"And you're up and dressed after all that was wrong with you and I'm just waking up from a little banging on the tummy how?"  
  
"I'm a fast healer and I hate the hospital." He was still grinning at her. If she was well enough to be sarcastic and bitch at him then she was going to be just fine. He lost the grin. "You were really messed up girl. I don't know what I was thinking letting you come along."  
  
"We'll talk about that more at home. And, well, I'm up now. Get me outta here. I can't stand the hospital. " The doctor walked in to hear that.  
  
"Oh, no young lady, you'll be here another few days for observation." He leaned in to check her stitches, since she'd kindly left them bare for him.  
  
"No I won't. I'll just get up an leave if you don't check me out."  
  
"There's no way you're going anywhere for at least another two days Miss Williams and there's no negotiation possible about that." The doctor said firmly.  
  
"I'm leave here today, the easy way is for you to check me out, the hard way is for me to just get up and leave." Nyssa said belligerently. She wasn't in the best of moods to find out she'd been passed out for days and Vince was already released.  
  
"She's pretty use to getting her own way. I'm afraid that's mostly my fault." Vince threw out.  
  
"Well, not this time she's not. It's not safe to let her go anywhere yet."  
  
"I'm here you know, no need to talk about me like I'm not in the room or like I'm a child. I'm fine. I've been sleeping it seems for 5 days. I'm going home like it or not."  
  
"Is there any way we can take her home and just keep her in bed there?" Vince asked. He didn't want to think of her running away to go home on her own, he knew she was totally capable of it.  
  
"I really don't think it's a good idea. She has to get back into eating solid foods and she can't even get out of bed on her own yet." The doctor didn't plan on letting her go anywhere.  
  
"But what's better, letting her go now and knowing that someone knows where she is and is making sure she doesn't get out of bed, or having her find a way to sneak out on her own and then not knowing what she's doing, or how she's getting home." Vince asked the doctor, he knew Nyssa was just the kind of person who would sneak out of the hospital given half a chance.  
  
"You have a valid point. Why don't you leave us, I'll check her over and if there doesn't seem to be anything that would cause a complication she can go home in your care, tomorrow." So Vince left the room and the doctor checked Nyssa all over. "You're going to be fine, you got very lucky that you were already in that chopper. You can go home tomorrow if you do well over night. I can't let you go any earlier then that."  
  
"Fine, I guess." She sighed.  
  
The doctor brought Vince back into the room and broke the news to them. That was fine with Vince, but he didn't let Nyssa know that. He didn't want to take her home and then have it end up hurting her worse. When visitors hour was over Vince pretended to go home then snuck back into Nyssa's room.  
  
"What're you doin' here?" She asked him.  
  
"I'm not ready to go home yet." Vince smiled and sat on the edge of her bed. She slid over to the side a little more. Vince took off his shoes and kicked his legs up on the bed.  
  
"Why?" Nyssa asked, kind of curious, kind of sly, she had an idea why.  
  
"No reason."  
  
"Really, you just hate the hospital but you don't want to leave." She peaked up from under her lashes.  
  
"Ok, well, maybe sleeping at home alone isn't all it's cracked up to be." He slid down till he was laying down on his side beside her, then he put his arm around her gently.  
  
"So you're gonna spend the night here in this little bed with me?"  
  
"Maybe not all of it, but some of it for sure." Vince looked embarrassed.  
  
"I hate it here." Nyssa almost cried. She really did hate it here. Plus she was worried that life was never going to be the same.  
  
"Me too." He pulled her closer gently and rested his chin on top of her head. "Go to sleep. I'll take you home tomorrow." He kissed her on the crown of her head and she did go to sleep. 


	36. Reunited Almost

Chapter 36 - Reunited; almost  
  
AN: I still don't have any electricity, so I have nothing better to do with my time at home then write till my laptop battery gives. So you all get another update. Yahoo for you guys, sucks for me. Have to come steal the internet and power to charge up my battery. But anyway enjoy, review.  
  
Vince woke up the next day to the angry ranting of a nurse. He guessed he'd fallen asleep too and had spent the night at the hospital. He hadn't intended to do that, but he had to admit he hadn't slept so well since they released him.  
  
"What are you doing here? You're not supposed to stay here like this." The woman bustled around as she ranted. Vince checked his watch. It was only 8am.  
  
"Yeah, well, it's a bit late to worry about it now isn't it?" He growled sarcastically. He couldn't wait to take his girl home so that when they wanted to sleep, they could sleep. No one waking them up, or yelling, or ranting about who was and wasn't supposed to be there.  
  
"Well, what are you doing here? Visiting hours don't start till 10 am." The nurse fussed around the bed as Vince detangled himself from Nyssa and sat up and stretched. And realized that he'd somehow removed his tank top over night and the nurse had shut up. He didn't know if it was because she liked what she saw or she was scared of his tattoos and the angry red wounds on his arm. He was lucky that somehow his dragon hadn't been hurt in the accident.  
  
"I didn't just get here, I never left." Vince said, in a tone of voice like he was speaking to a child.  
  
"I can see that, but you don't belong here." The nurse went to call a doctor. She didn't know what to do, she'd never had someone stay over with a patient before. Vince had an idea what she was doing but he didn't much care. His girl was supposed to come home today.  
  
He'd dressed himself and moved off the bed into a chair when the nurse returned with the same kindly doctor that had told him to take care of Nyssa at the first of the week.  
  
"I hear you paid us an extra long visit last evening young man." The doctor stated. Vince actually liked the doctor and looked up sheepishly.  
  
"Yeah, I didn't mean to but it kinda worked out that way. I haven't been sleepin' too good since I got out. I stayed with her for awhile and I fell asleep. She hates it here, she gets scared." Vince added, trying to defend himself.  
  
"Wel, when she wakes up we'll check her over, but she should be able to go home with your family today. However she'll be confined to her room for the next week or more."  
  
"I'll make sure she doesn't get up." Vince said with a smile down at Nyssa. Vince realized the team didn't know where he was or that Nyssa was finally awake. "Excuse me." He said to the doctor and went to use his cell phone outside the hospital.  
  
He was about to hang up after the phone rang for the 6th time when Dom answered. "What?" Was Dom's opening line.  
  
"Good morning to you too Brotha." Vince chuckled at Dom's typical morning attitude.  
  
"Where the hell have you been Vince?" Dom and the team hadn't been able to figure out where Vince had gone, his cell had been turned off and there hadn't been a sign of him all night.  
  
"I, um, well, I was visiting Jesse and Nyssa, then I fell asleep in Nyssa's room." Dom could hear the embarrassment in his voice.  
  
"Why'd you do that for?" Dom didn't know why Vince would want to sleep in the same room as his unconscious girlfriend.  
  
"I forgot to call and tell you guys that Nyssa woke up yesterday. She was really upset they wouldn't let her out of the hospital as soon as she woke up and she threatened to run home if they didn't. The doctor and I convinced her to stay but I didn't entirely trust her not to turn around and try to sneak home. So I stuck around to keep her company. Plus, she's been out of it for almost a week and I missed her." "So they're gonna let her come home today?" If that was the case, Dom's mood just got a hell of a lot better. That would lift the spirits of Mia and Letty considerably.  
  
"If the doctor doesn't foresee any complications, then yeah, she can come home today." Vince answered and Dom could hear the smile in the other man's voice.  
  
"That's great. I'll go wake up the team, tell them you're still alive, and then we'll head down. Whether Nyssa comes home today or not the girls are gonna want to see her right away. Prepare her for a very enthusiastic visit from Mia n'Letty." Dom laughed, for the first time in days things were looking up. Only Jesse left in the hospital now. And if the boy had held on this long, Dom was fairly sure that he was going to be fine.  
  
"I'll do that. The whole team'll be home soon Dom."  
  
"I sure hope so." They shared a silent moment thinking of poor Jesse then hung up. Vince went back into the hospital and back into Nyssa's room.  
  
"Well, what's the verdict?" He asked the doctor, who was still in the room, and included Nyssa with a glance.  
  
"I have some reservations about releasing her. However, if you can honestly say you can keep her quiet, and in bed for the next week. And make sure she eats, real meals, not junk, then I'll still let her go. On one further condition."  
  
"What's that" Vince asked, puzzled.  
  
"I need you to prove she's over 18, or I need to speak to her father." The doctor had, for some reason he couldn't explain, had a thought that the girl might be a minor.  
  
"She's almost 20, her only parent is in jail. I'm pretty well all she's got. But her driver's licence is in my car. Will that do?" Vince couldn't believe the doctor thought he'd be with a girl who wasn't of age. They knew he was 24, they thought he'd get with a 17 year old.  
  
The doctor saw how upset the younger man was and figured the girl must be of age. "Never mind, I'm sure she's the age you say she is. What's your dad's name?" The doctor asked Nyssa. The girl looked familiar, but he didn't know exactly why.  
  
"Mark Williams." Nyssa answered. The doctor looked puzzled.  
  
"Do you have an older brother?" He asked.  
  
"I did. He died. He was a cop and he was shot in the line of duty."  
  
"His name was Danny, wasn't it?" The doctor asked.  
  
"Yeah, how'd you know that?" Nyssa asked, puzzled.  
  
"I treated him once when he was shot." The doctor smiled. "He was a fabulous young man and a horrible patient." He smiled a fond smile at the memory.  
  
"I remember you now. You're the doctor that let me take him home, when he panicked in the hospital. You were very good to us." Nyssa smiled. This guy was the real deal. He'd checked up on Danny at their apartment for the two weeks following the day he'd let Danny out.  
  
"I am. I thought you looked familiar but with all the black and blue on you it was hard to tell. I'm so sorry to hear that your brother was killed like that. The world and the force lost something special that day." The doctor remembered her brother well. He had been one of those men who never got corrupted, never hit their wives, raised their kids to know right from wrong, and volunteered to coach little league and work in youth centers. The doctor had no idea how the quiet, innocent, shy young lady he remembered Nyssa to be from all those years ago had ended up this confident, mouthy young lady he saw now. Or how she'd ended up with the crowd she was with. The Torreto's were the opposite of her brother. But it was clear the young man loved the girl very much. And anyone that found that kind of love was lucky indeed.  
  
"Thanks Doc. It was over a year now that he was killed. So do I get to go home?" Nyssa changed the subject slightly and asked hopefully.  
  
"You can go home today, yes, but release time isn't till 2pm." He smiled. "If you need anything before then just ring." With that he left the room.  
  
"Nyssa?" Vince started. He had to tell her the girls were coming, and he had to tell her about Jesse.  
  
"Yeah, baby."  
  
"The team is on the way to see you. I forgot to call them and tell them you were ok yesterday, and the girls can hardly wait to see you."  
  
"That's great. I can't wait to see all of them." Her face clouded over. "What happened to Jesse?"  
  
"How do you know anything happened to him?" Vince would never understand how she did that, knew stuff she shouldn't know.  
  
"I just do, plus he'd never gotten back by the time we took off."  
  
"Well, it's a long story."  
  
"It seems I have time." "Mia'd tell it better. She was there."  
  
"I'll have her fill me in when she gets here if I wanna know something you can't answer." She stared at Vince. Vince sighed and sat down on her bed.  
  
"Ok. Here goes. Jesse went home to the house. Dom was just getting ready to go find him. Brian pulled up and blocked Dom in and tried to stop him from doing anything that would end badly. Brian explained what he and you had started in motion. While they fought about if Dom was going anywhere or not Jesse pulled up and got out of his car. The Trans drove by on those god damn crotch rockets and shot the place up. They shot Jesse three times. Brian and Dom took off after Lance and Johnny and Mia tried her best to save Jess. Brian killed Johnny, Dom ran Lance off the road, and Lance might not ever walk again. Mia got Jesse to an ambulance and the hospital. Dom and Brian raced, and tied. Then Dom hit a transfer truck, rolled the Charger, wrecked it, hurt his shoulder. Jesse's still in a coma."  
  
"He's not dead, is he? You're not just telling me coma so I don't panic are you?" She didn't sense that Jesse was dead, but she could be off from all her trauma.  
  
"No, he's not dead. But he doesn't show any signs of waking up, and they don't know if he ever will." Vince didn't want to sugar coat it. Nyssa smiled softly.  
  
"Mia had to be there. Mia got him to the hospital. He's going to be fine cause Mia was there. She had to be there to save Jesse." She smiled bigger. She'd been right. Mia had to be at the house when Jesse came back because Mia knew how hospitals and medical stuff worked. She knew what to do while she waited for the ambulance.  
  
"Why the big grin?"  
  
"Because this all fits. I had a feeling Mia had to go home for Jesse. I just had a feeling if Mia was there that Jesse would be fine. Mia was there, Mia got him here, he's still alive. I don't know when he'll wake up, but he will. It's gonna be fine."  
  
"I hope so. You're right most of the time. So where's this girl you predicted for poor Leon huh?" Vince laughed.  
  
"You joke now, but she's in his future, and wait till you meet her. Who told you 'bout that anyway?" Nyssa laughed back.  
  
"Letty told me, I'll have to wait and see I guess." Just then the door was thrown open and the remainder of the team rushed in. Nyssa was smothered by a laughing Letty, a crying Mia, a somewhat more relaxed then the last time she saw him Brian, a subdued Leon, and, surprise, surprise, a seemingly happy Dom. They were all together again, but for Jesse. And that was going to work out, Nyssa was sure of it. They all talked and caught up till it was almost 2pm. 


	37. One Goes Home

Chapter 37 - One goes home  
  
AN: Shit, did it again. It's now fixed, heres the real stuff. I updated at like 1am or later.sigh. Thanks to all who reviewed. Sorry for the long wait. I really tried to get this up faster. Kyra, it's called common courtesy. Have some. You use an emoticon for sticking out one's tongue on one review and say the story moves too s-l-o-w on my other story. That's not constructive, it's ignorant. I've left less the favourable reviews myself, but I always try to come off friendly and polite. Never stuck up. No wonder so many people are giving up on FF.net. I've been discouraged by the reviews I got. Hell, I know I'm not a great writer, I'd like to improve. Being told the story has no plot and moves s-l-o-w is not helping me in that endeavour. Since I'd been told I used too much dialog by other people I changed some of it to just describing conversations. The story pretty much follows the exact plot of the movie. Did you see the movie this is based on? Yes? Well, that's the plot. I've just added my own girl in and changed the movie as little as I could and still have the new character fit it, and made my own ending to the story. The reason it took so long for me to update is because I didn't know if I was going to bother. I got discouraged by the reviews my three stories got. I've been told on another board I posted this story on that it's good, fresh and original so I know it doesn't suck.Anyways, I finally got over the melancholy mood the reviews I got put me in and got my ass in gear and wrote the story. I sound like I can't take criticism of my stories here I know, but I can really, if people could just go about it in the adult, reasonable way. I hope I don't come off like this when I leave a less then stellar review for people. For god's sake if I do someone tell me. It's never been my intention.  
  
When 2pm came the doctor came back into the room and told them all she could go, but someone was going to have to sign her release papers. Vince went to do it.  
  
"I mean it young lady, you are to stay in bed and not do anything till at least one week from now. And if those stitches open you come right back here."  
  
"I get it." Nyssa said as she smiled. She was thrilled to be getting out of the hospital. Even if she'd been out of it for most of her stay, she still felt like she'd been there far too long. The doctor left the room with that and cornered the returning Vince in the hall.  
  
"It's very important you keep her quiet for at least the first week. And you need to make her eat good food. She's still not healthy, no matter how much she'd like to think otherwise. And when I say quiet I mean quiet. No activity more strenuous then reading while sitting up." The doctor was obviously hinting to Vince that Nyssa was not ready to sleep with him in every sense of the word. Vince was touched the other man cared, and insulted the doctor though he wasn't smart enough to figure that on his own.  
  
"I get it. No activity for one week. Then what, she can go for walks around the house, she can jump back into her normal activity level.How does this work?" The doctor was impressed that the other man thought to ask.  
  
"Well, after a week she can get up, and walk around the house, go for outings, stuff like that, simple and easy. She should ease back into her normal routine."  
  
"When can she drive on her own again?"  
  
"I've never been asked that specifically before. Hum, I guess at least two weeks after she goes home. Why?"  
  
"It's what she does. She loves to, um, drive." Vince didn't want to tell the doctor about racing.  
  
"Most people who drive do enjoy it. Why do you know the young lady will want to drive right away?"  
  
"She wants to be a mechanic and a race car driver. She loves her car."  
  
"What kind of car is it?" The doctor asked out of curiousity.  
  
"Well, she has her brother's Skyline and her own Mustang."  
  
"I see. Well, no driving for at least two weeks. She needs to take it slow. For that matter I don't really agree with how fast you've jumped back into running around, harassing my nurses." The doctor smiled, but his eyes stayed serious.  
  
"It's what I do best."  
  
"What's that?" The doctor questioned.  
  
"The opposite of whatever I'm told. She gets it from me." Vince smiled, proud of himself and pointed at Nyssa's door.  
  
"Just make sure you tell her to do whatever you have to, to keep her quiet." The doctor walked off to finish his rounds. He spun back on his heel with an after thought. "Oh, and no matter what she says to you, she leaves here in a wheelchair and she stays in it till you get to your car. Then you'll need to carry her to bed. I don't want her to walk. She really can't open those stitches."  
  
"Ok." Vince walked into the room. "You're set to go, but you leave in a wheelchair." He saw Nyssa's mouth open, belligerent look on her face. He held up a hand to stop her. "No buts, no negotiation. The doctor's orders." She crossed her arms with a mutinous glare. "You can glare at me all you want and it doesn't change." Vince smiled. She was getting better all the time if she was better enough to give him that bitchy look.  
  
"Fine. I hate feeling like a helpless baby." Nyssa pouted. The team laughed, they were glad that Nyssa was obviously feeling better, and glad that she was coming home. Things were looking better as the team became whole again. Vince answered her.  
  
"Well, you're far from helpless. But you are confined to bed for a week and that means no walking. Not even to leave the hospital. And just think, you get to have me 'n the rest of the team at your beck and call for the next week." Vince was smiling till he saw the evil glint enter her eyes.  
  
"That has possibilities." Nyssa looked very intrigued at the possibility of having the team to wait on her. Everyone else groaned. They knew they were in for it; she was going to run them off their feet. "What am I gonna wear home?" She glanced at her hospital gown. She wasn't wearing it home. Her butt would be hanging out for all to see. Vince shared a look with Dom, he hadn't thought about that. Mia held up her bag.  
  
"I thought of that, I brought you some sweats."  
  
"Mia, have I told you lately I love you?" Nyssa asked with a smile as Mia gave her some of her own clothes.  
  
"No, I think you were out cold for most of lately, so it's been awhile since you told me you loved me." Mia laughed.  
  
"Ok, well you all vacate the room and I'll get changed." Nyssa watched as all but Vince filed out of the room. "You're not leaving?"  
  
"No, what if you need help? The doctor said you were to take it easy for a week. I don't know if you should even be dressing, I'm sure as hell not leaving you to do it on your own." She sighed.  
  
"I can put on some pants and a top without leaving bed." She gave him a dirty look.  
  
"Yeah, go ahead, but I'm still gonna stay in case. Get used to it. I'm gonna be your shadow for the next week. 'Cept when I have to go to therapy." He spit out the last word with distaste. He hated the fact that he had to go to therapy as much as she hated being at his mercy for everything while she wasn't allowed out of bed.  
  
"You have to got therapy? For what?" Nyssa didn't see anything about him that looked out of the ordinary. He hadn't told her how bad his arm had been hurt because he hadn't wanted her to worry.  
  
"My stupid arm. They wanna make sure I get all the use of it back." He made a face.  
  
"Well, that's a good thing right?"  
  
"Yeah, but they push and pull and make me do stupid exercises. I hate it."  
  
"Aw muffin. It's what, two hours a week?"  
  
"Three." Vince said defensively, sensing she was setting him up for something.  
  
"Yeah, well I can't get up on my own for a week. I assume that means I have to let people help me get to the bathroom even?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well then, don't bitch about your three hours a week when you have to do something unpleasant when I have to allow this to happen to me all the time for a whole week."  
  
"Ok. Fine. I see how you would find your situation worse. Can you get ready now so we can leave? The guys are waiting on us." She got dressed. She did need Vince's help to finish, she was still stiff and sore, and she made sure he knew she didn't like needing his help one bit. A nurse had dropped off her chair and they helped her into it. She couldn't stop the look of pain that flashed on her expressive face as they moved her.  
  
When they were starting down the hall she looked up at Vince. "Where's Jess?"  
  
"Floor below us." He answered.  
  
"I want to stop'n see him."  
  
"I don't think so Nyssa." Vince didn't want her to see just how bad Jesse looked. Vince and Brian shared a look, and Vince knew that Brian agreed she shouldn't see her friend.  
  
"Yeah, well I do. So we're gonna go see him." The whole team knew that when Nyssa used that tone they may as well let her have her way. She'd just be irate and evil with them for hours, or even days if they didn't. She didn't act that way often, but when she did, it was something she felt really strongly about.  
  
They got in the elevator and Brian pushed the button for the second floor. They all piled off and walked up to the door of Jesse's private room. "Can I see him alone, or just with Vince first please?" She asked the team. She didn't know what she was going to find or how it would affect her so she wanted to be alone. She didn't like anyone to see her crying.  
  
"We'll just see you two at home then." Dom stated. Vince had his car; he had to figure they'd leave together in it. Vince nodded his acceptance of that plan. He figured taking Nyssa to see Jesse was foolhardy but he didn't want to argue the point with her any further. Dom and the others left, Mia with a very concerned look on her face, looking back over her shoulder.  
  
Vince opened the door and pushed Nyssa into the room. When Nyssa saw Jesse with what appeared to be a million things plugged into his small form she started to cry. She'd prepared herself for a lot but not to see Jesse with machines breathing for him and monitors plugged into him. Vince pushed her up beside the bed and she took Jesse's hand.  
  
"Oh Jesse." She sighed out. The boy was pale and so quiet. She knew what she felt, she felt Jesse would be fine. But it was hard to believe it while she saw him like this. She managed to keep the tears quiet, just let them run down her face. She figured maybe Jesse could hear her, just like she'd heard Vince. "Jesse, you listen to me. You're the last one left now, I'm goin' home. You need to wake up and get better. We all hate the hospital, and as long as you're in here we're all gonna have to come back and visit you. Besides, you promised Vince you could make his car run 9's and no one else can tune a Maxima up that good. He'll have to buy a better car if you don't come home. Plus, I bet Manda'll even let you do up her car if you come home. If you can hear me Jesse, I love you. Get better soon ok?" With that Vince insisted they leave.  
  
Nyssa held on to her composure till they got to his car and she was settled into the passenger seat. "Why Jesse?" She sobbed in the car. "Why not one of us? Jesse was innocent. He never did anything to anyone. It's not fair for Jesse to be lying up in that hospital." She cried.  
  
"It was Tran. He's gonna be ok."  
  
"I guess I know he's gonna be ok, but he's so small and he has so many things hooked up to him. I hate to see him like that. What about Tran? Did someone make him pay for what he did?"  
  
Vince hadn't ever seen the vicious streak in Nyssa. She wanted to make sure someone had gotten revenge. "Brian killed him. Jess'll be ok Nyssa." Vince tried to reassure her. Nyssa looked up at Vince with a slightly startled look.  
  
"Wait. You just called Brian, Brian."  
  
"Well, that's his name." Vince said, looking at Nyssa like she was slow. He didn't get the big deal.  
  
"Yeah, but you call him punk, or buster all the time. Never Brian. And you always sneer when you say anything about him. You've never said his name or said anything about him in a normal tone of voice before."  
  
"Well, he saved my life, and yours in a round about way. Killed Tran, and he's gonna fix our story with the cops. Plus Mia loves him."  
  
"Ok Vince. I think everything's gonna be ok." Nyssa sighed but it was a sigh of contentment. If Vince and Brian could learn to get along then everything had to be ok. That was almost like finding out the sky wasn't blue after all, it was green. She'd never thought she'd see the day when Vince and Brian got along.  
  
They got home and Vince got Nyssa into bed. He brought her books and magazines and told her if she got up she was going to find herself tied to the bed. She had her cell phone and she called him 10 times in the first hour, even though he was only upstairs. He was so happy to have her home he didn't even care that he brought her a glass of water then 5 minutes later she phoned him for a glass of pepsi. 


	38. The Closet Soap Opera addict

Chapter 38 - The Closet Soap Opera Addict  
  
Jesse was scared. He was in a dark place he didn't particularly want to be, but couldn't find the way out of. He was alone and frightened. He didn't know why he couldn't get out of the place he was. He thought he heard his name being called all the time, and he tried to answer the people who called him, but they never heard him. He was floating, it seemed, somewhere, and he didn't know why. He could always tell when he wasn't alone, but he could never say anything. He hated it when he was alone. He often knew that Brian was with him. And he wasn't scared then. He knew Vince came a lot too. They held his hand and talked to him. Some times he told himself to remember to pick on them for holding his hand like little kids, than he just got scared that they were going to leave him alone in the dark again.  
  
He had really tried to tell Vince he could hear him. Vince had told him all about Nyssa and how scared he was for both Nyssa and for Jesse. Vince scared was hard to take. Vince was the guy that wasn't scared of anything. Jesse had always looked up to Vince for that. Vince was fearless. Even more so then Dom. That was why Jesse had wanted to tell Vince it was going to be ok. Because he couldn't stand to hear Vince scared, that and to find out more about what happened to Nyssa. But he couldn't wake up and he couldn't say the words. And Jesse hated it when they left, left him alone to the dark place again. As long as his friends were with him he could handle it, but he started to get so scared when he was alone. Mia visited with Brian a lot, and Leon was by frequently, but Dom had hardly ever come in. Hadn't really spoken when he had come by. Dom had only spoken to Letty, or Brian or Vince. Never right to Jesse. Jesse wanted to know why. He hoped that Dom would forgive him for being so stupid. He figured that Dom was still mad at him for taking off. That was why Dom didn't talk to him, or visit on his own Jesse figured. Jesse'd done something really stupid, and Jesse knew he should have asked before he raced, should have told Dom before he did it, but he hadn't cause he'd known Dominic would say no.  
  
Jesse'd heard Nyssa tell him that she was going home and he was glad for her, for Vince, but upset for himself. If Nyssa went home then the team wouldn't spend as much time keeping him company. He knew they came down to see him while some of them saw Nyssa and took turns visiting them both. But if they had Nyssa to care for at home they wouldn't want to spend as much time with him. He heard Nyssa tell him that he had to come fix Vince's Maxima, he never had finished it, and it was still only around 12 seconds on the quarter mile. Jesse was itching to get at that car. A 9 second Maxima was something to brag about, if he could build it, it would prove he was one of the best tuners ever, just like people told him he was. He missed his team, he missed working on cars, he missed life. He remembered Nyssa telling him she loved him. He'd wanted to tell her he loved her too. He could tell she was crying even if he couldn't see her. It reminded him of when she'd run away. She wasn't sobbing then either, she'd just had tears running down her cheeks, making her eyes such a dark color they'd almost looked black. But he'd heard the tears in her voice then, and he'd heard them while she was in his room on her way out, on her way home. He'd heard Vince make her leave, and he'd wanted to scream at them to stay, not to leave him alone again. But as always, he was forced to remain silent. It wasn't fair, that everyone was gone home but him, that he couldn't wake up, couldn't speak, couldn't tell them he was scared.  
  
He heard someone come into the room, he hoped it was one of the team, but he couldn't tell, they had to speak to him, unless it was Dom, he'd know Dom's footsteps anywhere. They were the ones he really wanted to hear, Dom's footsteps. He might have known Leon for most of his life, Leon might be his closest friend, but Dom was like a father to Jesse, and it was Dom's approval and support he craved most of all. He couldn't wait to get better, to wake up and go back to work, to show Dom that even if he couldn't win races he could build the best cars that had ever raced. Then Dom wouldn't be mad at him anymore. They could all go back to the way things had been. The footsteps moved up to beside his bed. Then he realized it was a nurse as he was sucked back down deeper into the void, they always came in and drugged him right as he was fighting his way to the surface again. If they'd just lay off the meds he figured he'd wake up. Then he was past the point of even unconscious thought.  
  
Vince sighed as his cell phone rang again. "Yeah?" He asked, a touch annoyed because if it was Nyssa it was going to be the 10th time she'd called him since he left for the garage, and that had only been just over an hour ago. She'd already called and asked him to bring home several girly magazines he had no desire to buy, even for Nyssa, ice cream, chocolate, Pepsi, and aspirin. All on separate phone calls. And she'd called just to complain about being bored and lonely three times. She was getting on his nerves, and it was only 11am. He saw Dom shoot him a dirty look for being on the phone, again. It wasn't like he could just not answer. Nyssa wasn't able to drive, what if she had an emergency?  
  
"Baby?" Nyssa's voice came across the phone. He sighed mentally but tried to keep the frustration out of his voice.  
  
"Yes Nyssa?" He asked, and it did come out sharper then he'd have liked.  
  
"When you commin home?" She asked him. She was lonely and she hated being all alone in the house. Plus she wanted her Pepsi and chocolate and she had a funny feeling she was going to need to go to the bathroom soon. She knew she was pissing him off but she couldn't help it. She wanted to get up, go to the living room at least and watch TV but if someone got home before she could get back to bed she knew there'd be hell to pay.  
  
"I don't know, we got pretty backed up down here while everyone was at the hospital worrying about you an Jesse and I'm not totally useful yet, and Leon goes to see Jesse twice a day. I'm pretty busy, we're all really busy trying to catch up, but I'll be home for lunch." He thought maybe she really needed him but was too embarrassed or now angry at his attitude to ask him. "Is everything ok?" He felt the need to add.  
  
"Yeah, it's ok. I'm bored, and lonely, and gettin' hungry. But other then that..." She trailed off.  
  
"Ok, well, it's only an hour till lunch, I'll see you then for sure."  
  
"Ok...Bye." She added on a sad little sigh.  
  
"Bye baby." He hung up the phone and went back to work before Dom shot him. He'd already lived through that experience once and had no desire to repeat it.  
  
Nyssa sighed and hung up the phone. She wondered if she could wait to go to the bathroom long enough for Vince to come help her to the room. She thought about it for another minute and it became clear she couldn't. She knew she had another 6 days till she was technically allowed out of bed, but she needed to go, and it had to be now.  
  
That decision made she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood beside it, weaving back and forth slightly. She didn't know if this was the smartest idea she'd ever had but she really needed the bathroom and it wouldn't wait. She took tiny steps and got to the doorway of the room and the hall. She took a breather against the doorjam and wondered if she could make it all the way down the hall. She knew it was a short hall, but when she was so weak it looked like it was a mile long. She cursed at herself. She never would have thought that one week of inactivity would weaken a person to the point she was weakened and she hated it.  
  
In that moment she knew why Vince was so awfully frustrated about his therapy. It did really suck to acknowledge just how much you needed help when you were use to doing on your own. And she needed Vince to carry her, or half carry her at least, anywhere she wanted to go. And he likely shouldn't even be doing half the stuff he was yet either. But he was allowed to do whatever he wanted and they expected her to do whatever they told her to do. She made it to the end of the hall and went into the bathroom. It took 10 minutes to get down the hall but she did it on her own. She finished up and looked longingly at the shower. She knew she didn't have time to take a shower before Vince came home with her lunch, but she wanted one really bad. She made her way slowly and carefully back to bed and had just settled into bed with a book when she heard the back door slam open and heard Vince's footsteps on the stairs.  
  
"I'm here." Vince called down the stairs ahead of his decent.  
  
"It's about time." Nyssa called back. "Did you get my books and pop and chocolate and ice cream?"  
  
"Yeah, and don't ever ask me to by Cosmopolitan again. The looks the cashier gave me while I bought these things were embarrassing." She took one look at her gruff, scruffy, growly, tough man with girly magazines, looking so mortified that he'd had to buy them she cracked up laughing. She could see him walking into the corner store and picking up Cosmo and Woman's World and then shooting the clerk dirty looks while the poor man tried not to laugh at the site of one of the toughest guys in LA buying a magazine that proclaimed in big white letters on a flaming red cover, 'How to make your guy crazy, try these positions tonight.'  
  
"I'm sorry, but don't you want to know what this article says?" She asked, still giggling, while pointing at the section of cover in question.  
  
"Yeah, but I think we have enough imagination that I didn't need the embarrassment of buying that." Vince said gruffly and sat on the other side of the bed. "Mia made your lunch, eat." He handed her the paper bag Mia had put her food in.  
  
"Um, ceaser salad and a ham sandwich. I love Mia."  
  
"Well then call her after lunch."  
  
"Oh baby, was I getting annoying?" She asked with a wicked glare.  
  
"Yeah, Dom was ready to take the phone from me and tell you off himself."  
  
"Oh was he?" Nyssa asked between bites of food.  
  
"Yeah he was." Vince answered.  
  
"Well, the next time either of you feel that way, just remember if it wasn't for my plan you'd be in Jail, and Dom would likely be with you." She washed down her catty statement with a big chug of Pepsi.  
  
"I hear you. But do you have to call every 15 minutes. Can't you just be happy you got your revenge on me for today and lay off, just for the rest of the work day?"  
  
"I guess so." She conceded reluctantly.  
  
"Ok, I'll see you after 5 for supper ok?"  
  
"Yeah, that's fine."  
  
"Do you need to go to the bathroom before I leave?" Nyssa felt guilty for going on her own when he was so concerned but she didn't want to lie about it.  
  
"No, I'm fine, see you for supper."  
  
"Ok then." With that Vince kissed her forehead and left the room.  
  
When she heard his car leave she got up and slowly and carefully walked to the downstairs TV. If she had to stay home and quiet she was going to watch some TV. She got comfortable on the couch and settled down to watch soap operas.  
  
Leon was having a bad day. He'd gone to see Jesse before lunch and the kid's lack of progress depressed him. He decided not to go back to DT for the afternoon. He figured he'd go home and play a little PS2. That always made him feel better. He drove his car up the drive as quietly as he could and carefully let himself into the house. He figured that poor Nyssa might be asleep.  
  
He silently crept down the stairs only to find the girl in question wide awake on the couch watching one of those, unreal, sappy, everyone is having sex with everyone else shows that women watched.  
  
"What're you doin' outta bed?" He asked her in his best imitation of a Vince angry growl. It must have been somewhat realistic cause she looked up in shock.  
  
"What are you doing home from work?" She countered with.  
  
"I want to know why you're outta bed first."  
  
"I got bored, the TV's only a short walk away. Don't tell V. Please?"  
  
"Ok, fine. I guess you're as quiet here as you would be in bed."  
  
"Yeah. Now what're you doin' home so early?"  
  
"I went to see Jesse."  
  
"Oh my god, he's ok isn't he?"  
  
"He's just, well, there. Same as he was yesterday, and the day before. I don't know if he's ever gonna get better."  
  
"Yes he is Leon. He's gonna be fine. He's only been in there a week and a half. He was shot three times and lost a lot of blood. He'll be fine after his body has time to repair." Nyssa watched Leon try not to cry. Leon wasn't as tough as Vince, but all the guys were macho men, and she knew he didn't want to cry in front of anyone, but if he was this close to it he was really upset. She sat up a little and patted the part of the couch she'd freed. He sat down, and she leaned against him.  
  
Everything crashed on Leon at once it felt like, all the stress from everything and he broke down and sobbed. He pulled Nyssa into his arms, he needed someone to comfort him. Even in his state he remembered to be careful with her, and she held him gently from his lap where he'd pulled her while he got out all his sadness and frustration. When he was stopped and just had his head resting on top of hers she asked him. "You ok Le?"  
  
"I'm gonna be fine."  
  
"You never showed a moment of weakness till now and you just had to get it out."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Jesse's gonna be ok."  
  
"I hope so."  
  
"I know so. Now go clean yourself up a bit then you can come back here and keep me company." Leon went and washed his face, combed his hair and returned. He sat on the end of the couch with Nyssa leaning against him and the drank cola, ate chocolate and ice cream and watched soaps all afternoon. They had a good time. Nyssa wasn't lonely with Leon making her laugh, and Leon forgot about his troubles while he was trying to make her laugh, and while he'd never ever admit it, soaps were addictive.  
  
As Vince walked back into the shop after lunch the office phone rang and Dom went to answer it. He came back into the garage looking ashen under his dark skin. "Brian, it's for you." Brian looked up with a startled look on his face.  
  
"I take it it's not Mia." Brian asked, trying to lighten the mood after seeing the look on Dom's face.  
  
"No, it's someone named Tanner." Dom answered, still looking upset. It was Brian's turn to turn an awful pale color. Brian had known the day would come that Tanner and Bilkens would expect him to tell his story to them, he had hoped the statement he'd already given at the scene of the accident with the charger would be enough but he'd known in his heart the odds of that happening had been slim.  
  
"Ok. Right." Brian left the shop and went into Dom's office and closed the door. He'd been dreading this day, ever since Tanner had told him that while he wasn't fired, he was going to be given a leave with pay while the police decided what should be done with him.  
  
The FBI hadn't believed the story they'd been given any more then they'd believed Brian when he'd said that it couldn't be Toretto before Brian had flipped. Tanner was busy relating this info to Brian over the phone.  
  
"So you're going to have to come down here and give a deposition Brian."  
  
"But I told you guys all I know already."  
  
"I know that, but the FBI doesn't believe you told the truth. They believe you're protecting Toretto from being charged with crimes they say they know he committed and they want you to give an on the record statement and account of what went on."  
  
"Well, that's no problem Sarg, but it's just going to be the same story, cause I already told you guys all I know about what happened." Brian managed to stay calm and to keep his voice even but inside he was terrified. What if the FBI didn't believe him and went out of their way to try and slip him up? What if he couldn't lie well enough to throw them off?  
  
"I know Brian. So it shouldn't be a big deal for you to come down and tell Bilkins to his face and let him record you and then it'll be all over."  
  
"Fine Sarg, when should I come down?"  
  
"They want to do it next week on Tuesday. Is that alright?"  
  
"Yeah, well, my calendar is pretty open." Brian answered with a sarcastic little laugh.  
  
"I know Brian, and I'm sorry. You know it doesn't look good that you're living with Toretto."  
  
"Well Sarg, I have no where else to live. You know that. I'm not from LA, I have no house here. Dom took me in and offered me a place to stay, offered me a job if I need one, and Mia and I are together. I'm not going to pretend we're not. Besides they weren't doing anything wrong and so why shouldn't I be their friend. I like them." Brian was being put on the defensive by Tanner's questions.  
  
"Because you were investigating them, and now they're your friends and your girlfriend too? Brian, it's a definite conflict of interest. I mean, you were sent to investigate them, you say you didn't find anything, but yet instead of them hating you for lying to them and trying to bust them, they take you in and offer you a job and a place to live? It looks like you're covering for them, I'm not saying you are, but you should have stayed detached till after this is all settled." Tanner sighed. He really liked Brian, and he didn't want to see him go to jail over the likes of Toretto and crew. "You sure they're worth the crap that's coming your way because of them?"  
  
"Yeah, and anything that comes my way I can deal with because I never did anything wrong and neither did they." Brian said. He realized he should have stayed away till after the internal investigation that was bound to happen had happened but he couldn't just not see the team when he'd known Jesse, Vince, and Nyssa were in the hospital and known that Mia needed him. "I'll see you on Tuesday." He wanted to end the conversation before Tanner got him any more upset. He was fast loosing his ability to hide his emotions, that cool that was naturally his, his meal ticket, Dom had called it.  
  
"Ok Brian. See you then." Brian could hear the upset in Tanner's voice and hoped it was going to be ok. Brian knew that Tanner was trying to tell him that Bilkens didn't buy his story and that Bilkens was going to give him a hard time. Brian wanted to just walk into the station on Tuesday and throw down his badge and gun for the team, just quit and refuse to tell them anything, but he knew that the team would suffer if he did that, he'd only be letting himself off easy. If he did that they'd assume he had something to hide, and not only would they come after the team to see what they could find out, they'd come after Brian too. They'd want to know everything he'd done, they'd look for any slip up he'd made. If he made his deposition and made it stick they'd have to go away, believe him or not. They weren't charging him with anything or they would have done it by now, so if Brian could just make them think he hadn't done anything wrong, that he hadn't found anything to report it would all work out. He headed out of Dom's office.  
  
They all looked up at him. No one spoke, they could see the look of tiredness and worry on Brian's face, and in his ice blue eyes.  
  
"Well?" Vince finally broke the silence, he wanted to know. Brian sighed.  
  
"I have to go give another statement on Tuesday, an official one and they're gonna wanna record it for records. The FBI isn't buying the story that there was nothing on you all to find. But they have no evidence and I'm pretty sure they can't make anything stick. I'll sell the story really well and they'll have no choice but drop the investigation. But they're gonna be brutal with what they ask me. I'll tell the truth where I can and lie when I have to but it's not going to be easy. But I'll make it work. I'll make it work." Brian said again, almost as if he had to reassure himself too. "Then I'll have to work a desk job no doubt for a few months, because they'll pull me off field work for that long, and I'll have to do it because if I don't it'll look bad again, then I'll quit saying desk work isn't for me." Brian sighed.  
  
Dom and Vince shared a look. They knew that Brian had loved his job as a cop. that he was willing to give it up for them and a life with Mia and their team was telling of just how much Brian really cared for them. "Well Brian, all you can do is your best man." Dom told him. "We fucked up, but if you can keep our sorry butts outta jail then do it." Dom felt the need to tell Brian that his hard work and dedication to the team hadn't gone unnoticed. "And you have a job here and a place in the team and in our house as long as you want it. And as long as you don't hurt my baby sister." Dom smiled.  
  
"Thanks Man." Brian smiled. He really thought it was going to work out ok.  
  
"Yeah, thanks for what you did man." Vince added and walked back over to his car. Brian sent Dom a shocked look. Dom's look mirrored Brian's. Vince had just said a polite sentence to Brian.  
  
They all headed for home at 5 o'clock. They were worried about Leon, who had never returned to the garage after his noon time visit to the hospital. They entered the house and heard laughter from the basement. Vince headed down to check it out and there was Nyssa, curled up on the couch against Leon, and they were both laughing at whatever they were watching on TV. There were pop cans and empty wrappers all around them.  
  
"What're you doin' outta bed, and what're you doin home here?" Vince asked. They both looked up at him like they knew they were busted. "You are supposed to eat good food and you were supposed to come back to work and finish that Integra." Vince added, pointing at them each in turn. He took a closer look at Leon and realized that his friend had been crying at some point. "Everything ok?"  
  
"Fine Dawg." Leon answered.  
  
"But we're hungry." Nyssa added.  
  
"Ok, I'll bring dinner down here then, though I don't know how you could be hungry if you at all this chocolate." Vince looked around at all the wrappers. They giggled at him from the couch. When Vince was gone Leon turned to Nyssa.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"You too." They smiled and then Vince returned with three plates and they all ate together in the basement. 


	39. Tricked by a Pouty Lip

Chapter 39 - Tricked by a pouty lip  
  
"You go back to bed now." Vince said to Nyssa when they were done eating.  
  
"What difference does it make now? I'm already up, let me stay here and watch TV?" He started to say no. "Please." She stuck her bottom lip out and pouted. "I want to watch TV or play PS2, not sit in my room bored."  
  
"The doctor said one week, nothing but bed." He hated it when she made that face. It was very hard to say no to that face.  
  
"Yeah, but he's not here. I'm happy here, and I'm being quiet. I really can't be any quieter."  
  
"You get off that couch and I'll lock you in our room." He capitulated.  
  
"I won't move. Let's watch a movie!" The idea came to her in that instant.  
  
"Ok, what one?" Leon agreed. He wasn't in the mood to be alone, but he wasn't going to go with Nyssa into her room either. He'd rather if they could all hang out together.  
  
"I could watch a movie, why not." Vince agreed. He could almost sense Leon's need for company. "I don't know what one either though."  
  
"Something funny." Nyssa threw out. She thought Leon could use the break from reality with a nice, funny movie. "How 'bout Rush Hour?" Nyssa asked. She knew Leon liked martial arts, and that movie had both fighting and funny.  
  
"Good one." They guys answered her at the same time and chuckled. They owned that already so Vince went and grabbed it while Leon made popcorn. They started the movie and just vegged in front of the TV for the duration of the movie. Right at the first of the movie the rest of the team had come downstairs to see what they were doing and stayed for the whole thing.  
  
Nyssa was glad for the company; it was nice to spend time with the team. It did make her miss Jesse. It wasn't a team activity without the mad scientist. By the end of the movie Vince looked down and saw that Nyssa was fast asleep. No matter how good she thought she felt, she was still weak. He put her to bed. He checked her scar while he changed her for bed. It looked ok to him. He was glad. He'd wanted to shout at her for being out of bed when he'd told her not to be. He didn't know if Leon had helped her to the living room or not, but he'd be willing to bet that Leon had found her in the living room already.  
  
If Nyssa ended up back in the hospital Vince didn't know what he'd do. He had missed her plus he hated the hospital. He hated going, even to visit someone else. He knew he should make an effort to go see Jesse more, but he figured that Leon would tell them if there was any change, and Leon went to see Jesse all the time. Vince felt so busy taking care of Nyssa and working for Dom, plus worrying about how the stuff with Brian would turn out that he didn't seem to have time. He figured that they should all have gone to see Jesse that night, but that would mean leaving Nyssa all alone, after leaving her all alone all day.  
  
Or pretty well all day, since Leon had snuck out on them for the afternoon. Vince had wanted to ask Nyssa about that but he didn't want to wake her up. He'd ask her in the morning, he decided, and also decided that he'd have to go see Jesse with Leon the following afternoon. He also made a mental note to tell her he knew that she'd gone to the living room on her own and try to figure out if he was right or not based on her reaction. He'd had a long day and was asleep minutes after going to bed himself.  
  
The next day when he woke up and got up Nyssa woke up too.  
  
"Hey." She said sleepily.  
  
"Hey yourself." He answered. He sat back down on the edge of the bed. "So, yesterday, what was up with Leon?"  
  
"He just had a bad day." Nyssa said, and then yawned. "He's down about Jesse." She elaborated then rolled so she was facing away from him and started to fall back asleep.  
  
"So, you know I know you went to the living room on your own right?" Vince asked, trying to sound serious.  
  
"No I didn't." She answered.  
  
"Oh come on now, yes you did. Leon wouldn't'a come in here and offered to take you to the TV when he knew you were supposed to stay in bed. However if he came home and found you there, he would be the easiest one to convince to let you stay up." Vince reasoned out.  
  
"Yeah, maybe, but it didn't happen. Are you gonna stay here and accuse me of stuff all day, or are you gonna go to work and let me go back to sleep?" She asked snappishly.  
  
"I'm gonna go to work. However I trust that no one will find you up out of bed today. I'll expect to find you reading those god forsaken magazines you made me buy in this bed, or still asleep when I come home with your lunch."  
  
"Whatever, just leave." She growled in her best impression of him and pulled the blankets over her head. He left with a chuckle.  
  
The rest of the week passed pretty well without incident. Nyssa never let anyone catch her out of bed again. That wasn't to say she never left, but she never got caught again. That was until the 6th day after she'd gotten home. That day Leon came home early for lunch at home before he went to visit Jesse and found her again in the living room, watching TV again, only dressed in street clothes instead of her sweats or PJ's.  
  
"What are you doin' up? Don't you know how hard V came down on me after last time? I covered for you like I said I would, but he knew. I could tell he knew."  
  
"I'm up because one more day isn't going to make that much difference to my recovery. That and I know you're gonna go see Jesse after lunch and I'm coming."  
  
"No way. No way am I taking you outta the house. Vince, Dom or both'll kill me if they find out. You're only allowed outta bed tomorrow. You're not supposed to do anything more stressful then walk around the house for another whole week after that."  
  
"Leon, I'm coming wit you, or I'm going alone. It's really up to you."  
  
"That's dirty." Leon frowned. He'd been read the riot act by Vince already, he didn't need them to find out he'd taken her out of the house. And Leon knew something she didn't. She'd have a hard time taking herself when Vince had hidden all her car keys.  
  
"Yeah, but I'm not waiting another whole week to see Jesse again. I'll just take myself if you don't take me."  
  
"You can't play that card girl, Vince took all your car keys and he didn't even tell me where he put them. So you won't be going anywhere in your cars, and I really don't think I'm stupid enough to take you anywhere." Leon smirked at the angry look on her face. It was kind of fun to thwart her like that, plus he knew Vince was in for it.  
  
"Well, you'd be really surprised how easy it is to get into the 'stang without keys, how easy it is to start without keys for that matter." She smirked back.  
  
"I don't buy it for a minute." Leon didn't think a girl who'd had to be taught how to change her oil could possibly know how to hotwire a car.  
  
"Fine, don't. I'll see you there. It'll be nice to drive again, and it looks like a great day for a convertible." She turned back to the TV.  
  
"Won't Vince be here with your lunch soon?"  
  
"Likely." She was kind of mad at him and she didn't look at him while she answered him with one word answers. "I'll go after he goes back to work."  
  
"Can you really hotwire your car?"  
  
"Yeah." She was still ignoring him.  
  
"Didn't you think of the fact that the doctor that released you on the condition we kept you quiet might see you and get mad and try to make you go back to the hospital?"  
  
She could tell Leon was starting to cave. He hated to fight about anything, and he was seeing the fight this could develop into she knew. She also figured that he was worried about what would be the lesser of the evils he was faced with. Leave her home and have her drive herself and hurt herself that way or bring her and get caught by Vince or that doctor. "He might see me I guess, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. I'm fine. I've done nothing for the last 6 days. One short car ride and small walk through the hospital isn't going to hurt me."  
  
Leon sighed. He didn't know what to do. Vince arrived with lunch then so he was saved from worrying about it for a while at least.  
  
"What're you doin' home Leon?" Vince asked.  
  
"I need some lunch before I go to see Jesse." Leon answered.  
  
"Ok, you comin' back to work this afternoon?" Vince asked with a hint of sarcasm.  
  
"Yeah, after I visit." Leon looked away. Vince chalked it up to Leon being upset about Jesse and shrugged it off. After they ate lunch Vince went back to work and Leon looked at Nyssa. "I'll bring you, if you promise never to ask me to do anything like this again." Leon hated to be put in the middle of this, hated to have to keep secrets from his friends.  
  
"Deal." She agreed. She just really wanted to see Jesse for some reason. She'd woken up the second time with the desire to visit with Jesse, and she'd proceeded to try to scheme up a way to get to do it.  
  
"I'm gonna regret this." Leon sighed. He ate then they left. 


	40. You owe Vince a 10 second Car

Chapter 40 - You owe Vince a 10 second car.  
  
Leon was being bitchy with her, she thought, as they drove to the hospital. He was the one talking in one word answers to her questions now. She did know she'd put him into a bad position by asking him to take her to the hospital even though she knew she shouldn't go. She just really wanted to see Jesse.  
  
"So, does Jesse look any better now then he did a week ago?" Nyssa again tried to get Leon to converse with her. It was a subject dear to Leon's heart and she was willing to bet that he'd talk to her about this at least.  
  
"Well, yes and no." It was the longest answer she'd gotten out of him since he'd agreed to take her to the hospital.  
  
"How so?" She wanted to know and she also wanted to keep him talking. It was either Jesse or Skylines and she didn't really want to talk about their cars right now.  
  
"He's breathing on his own now, his color is more natural. But he still doesn't respond to anything. He doesn't blink when you talk to him or squeeze your hand when you hold his." Leon sighed. "The doctor still won't make any promises about him ever waking up either. They say the fact that he's breathing on his own is a good sign, but that some people's body's heal enough for that but their brains got too damaged from the low oxygen due to loss of blood and they never wake up."  
  
"Jesse's gonna wake up Leon." Nyssa was just sure of it. Leon gave her a look like he really wanted to believe her, but he was still not sure.  
  
"I hope so. But it gets worse. I wasn't supposed to tell you while you were confined to the house cause the rest of the team knew that if you knew you'd insist on going out to see Jesse and you were supposed to be quiet so they didn't want to worry you. But since you're up and out of the house, I guess you may as well know."  
  
"What Leon, what's worse then knowing he still never woke up?"  
  
"Well, one of the bullets came close to his spine and there's a chance if he wakes up he might not ever walk again." Leon looked at her out of the corner of his eye to gage her reaction.  
  
"They can't tell that from some sort of test? Can't they test for that?"  
  
"Not when the person is in a coma. He doesn't respond anyway, so they have no way to know if he's not responding because he's out of it or if he's not responding because he can't feel what they do anymore. He has to wake up before we'll know anything." Nyssa frowned; Leon thought she was on the verge of tears.  
  
"This is so fuckin' unfair." Nyssa muttered.  
  
"What is?" Leon thought a lot of what had happened lately was unfair; Nyssa was going to have to be more specific.  
  
"All Jesse did was race someone, lose, and panic. I mean it was stupid, but not the stupidest thing that occurred that day. The rest of us did something far worse, that was illegal, that harmed others and we're all going to be as good as new. It's not fair that Jesse got hurt worse then all of us put together."  
  
"No it's not, but it happened and we can't change that. We can just hope for the best." Leon didn't know how else to explain things to Nyssa. He didn't know if he could, if anyone could.  
  
"I know, but it still sucks." She sat back in her seat with her arms crossed and pouted. Leon couldn't help himself; the way she was sitting and the look on her face was priceless, he started to laugh.  
  
"You should see the look on your face. It's like you want to take on the whole world and kick their asses." She giggled. When he pointed out that her attitude wasn't helping anything she did feel foolish.  
  
"I do want to take on the whole world and kick their asses over this. But I know I can't. I just have to hope for the best like everyone else. Or take up praying like Mia." The shared a fond laugh about that. Mia was a prayer, most of the team didn't join her in her religious fondness.  
  
"There've been times over these last two weeks where I prayed. I don't even really know to what or who though. It's been a long time since I had any kind of religion." Leon admitted almost shyly. He wasn't a religious person, but when three of his team mates were in the hospital he'd picked a God and prayed.  
  
"Me too." Nyssa admitted. She'd prayed with Mia a couple times under the assumption that anything that could help couldn't hurt.  
  
They pulled up to the hospital and Leon made Nyssa stay put till he came around to the side of the car to help her out. He assisted her out of the car and even though she protested, held her around the waist on the way into the hospital. He wasn't taking any chances on her getting hurt. He was bringing her back to the house in the same state she'd left in, or he knew it would be his ass.  
  
They walked in; Nyssa looked around constantly to make sure she could avoid her doctor should she see him. They made it to Jesse's room without incident and sat down beside his bed. Nyssa thought Leon was right. Jesse did look better. He had more natural color and he wasn't all pale. He still had sort of dark circles around his eyes and she saw they'd removed the ever present black nail polish off his fingernails. She sat down and took his hand.  
  
"Hey Jesse. I guess you don't listen too good huh? You're still in the hospital, even though I thought I told you to hurry up and get better, not lie around here for weeks and take a break. I guess it's that short attention span. Every time you think about trying to wake up something else in your head takes your attention away from it." She giggled, picturing Jesse in his head thinking it was time to wake up and let them all know he was going to be fine, then a thought of a car or a girl taking his mind away from waking up and making him stay in his own world longer still.  
  
Leon could so see Jesse doing something like that, that he roared in laughter. "She's right Dawg, you know you could be about to wake up then you'd think of some chick and you'd be right back out of it while your mind ran on to every other topic under the sun." Leon laughed.  
  
"Besides that, you still owe my cousin a date, she was really looking forward to it and now here you are, letting doctors and nurses wait on you hand and foot and spoil you instead of waking up and coming back home, back to work."  
  
"Yeah, and leaving me to try to pick up the slack at work." Leon mock growled.  
  
"That and you know that Vince and Dom are starting to fix up your Jetta and you know it's not gonna run right if you don't come supervise them Jess. They can't tune a car like you can. " Nyssa laughed.  
  
"Keep." Nyssa and Leon looked at each other in shock.  
  
"Jesse, did you just talk?" Nyssa asked, excitedly, holding her breath.  
  
"Keep them away from my car." Jesse croaked out and his eyes opened into slits.  
  
"Jesse!" Nyssa and Leon shouted at the same time and hugged each other. They were scared to hug Jesse, he still had a lot of things plugged into him.  
  
"I'm going to call the doctor!" Leon exclaimed and left the room.  
  
"Jess, you had us so worried." Nyssa told him, but smiled while she said it.  
  
"How long have I been out of it?" Jesse asked, his voice still hoarse.  
  
"Like two weeks now." Nyssa was elated. Jesse was awake. "We were getting scared you weren't ever going to wake up."  
  
"I kept trying, but every time I came close something would suck me back in or the nurses would drug me."  
  
"You remember?" Nyssa was shocked, she remembered stuff from when she was out cold too, but she'd convinced herself that was impossible and had convinced herself what she remembered was dreams.  
  
"Either that or I dreamed it. I remember you talking to me, about Vince's car. Was that a dream?"  
  
"Nope, you remember stuff that happened while you were out of it. So did I but I thought I was dreaming too."  
  
"Before Leon comes back, is Dom still really mad at me?" Jesse looked scared and upset.  
  
"Jess, Dom was never mad at you. Well, maybe when you first took off, but never since then. He's been worried sick. We all have."  
  
"Why hasn't he been to visit then?" Jesse didn't look convinced that Dom wasn't mad at him.  
  
"He has been. Not as much as the other guys, but he's so busy, he hardly ever comes home from the shop even. And you know Dom, and Vince for that matter. They don't deal with emotions well and Dom was so upset about everything he likely didn't think he could keep his tough guy front. So instead he's just been working himself to death." Nyssa didn't want Jesse to think that anyone was mad at him while he tried to get better.  
  
"You really don't think he's mad at me?"  
  
"No Jesse, you silly boy." She hugged him carefully and he hugged her back. "No one is mad at you. We're so happy to have you back." She didn't want to worry Jesse so she didn't ask him if he could feel his toes or anything, but she wanted to. She figured Leon would be back with the doctor soon and they'd run tests. For now she just wanted Jesse to be secure in his place within the team. To know they all cared about him and he wasn't in any kind of trouble.  
  
"I'm glad to hear that." Jesse still wasn't really sure, and he still planned on tuning the hell out of Vince's car. And fixing his own Jetta. Dom and Vince would never get it right. It had to be him and Leon.  
  
"Once the Doctor gives the OK we'll call the team and have them come down." Nyssa smiled, a big, goofy grin. She couldn't help it. Jesse was awake. Leon returned with the Doctor. And it was the same kindly old doctor that had helped Nyssa. She cringed, waiting for the onslaught of his displeasure at seeing her out of bed.  
  
"Hello young man, welcome back." The doctor opened with.  
  
"Hey Doc." Jesse said, then looked at Nyssa and knew she wasn't happy to see the doctor.  
  
"And young lady, I see you take orders well. Where is your young man?"  
  
"Um, he's at work." Nyssa looked chagrined.  
  
"I see. And I suppose he doesn't know you're here?"  
  
"Nope." Nyssa blushed.  
  
"Busted!" Jesse laughed, and she was so glad to hear the sound that she laughed too. "He can't get too mad at her, it was her yellin' at me for taking so long to get back to work that finally made me wake up." Jesse smiled.  
  
"This is V Jess, he can get mad anyway." But Nyssa didn't think he would. Leon didn't look so sure.  
  
"Well, if you two would kindly go wait in the waiting room the young man and I have some tests to go though and some things to discuse." Nyssa and Leon took the hint and left the room. They knew the doctor was about to test Jesse and tell him that he could be paralized.  
  
AN: Dun Dun Dun. I felt like being mean, so cliff-hanger. All you people who wanted Jesse to wake up got your wish. However, will the mad scientist ever walk again? Who knows? Well, I do. You'll all have to wait. Lots of reviews may well make me wish to relieve the suspense faster. :) 


	41. A big Marshmallow?

Chapter 41 - A big Marshmallow?  
  
AN: Of course you all get your wish. You'll see what I mean as you read. Also, I learned something new on the 100th play of TFATF. The first time that Tanner and Brian walk into Liz Taylor's house there's a wall with pictures all over it. If you watch close, or freeze frame on that wall of pictures, both Dom and Vince have mug shots on it. So I had to give Vince a bad boy past to match his bad boy looks. I couldn't help myself. :) Enjoy and Review.  
  
"What do you think Le?" Nyssa asked. She figured Leon knew what she was talking about.  
  
"I don't know Nyss. I really don't."  
  
"He wasn't panicked though. You'd think he would be if he couldn't feel his legs wouldn't you?"  
  
"I guess so." Leon still looked stressed out.  
  
"Leon, why do you look so upset? Jesse's awake, and he's likely going to be fine. I'm so happy I could dance around or maybe explode." Nyssa admitted with a smile.  
  
"Yeah, that's fine for you. And I am happy about Jesse. But now the whole team's gonna come down here to see Jesse, and we can't ask Jesse to lie about how and why he woke up so Dom and Vince are going to know I brought you down here even though you shouldn't be out of the house. Vince is gonna kick my ass." Leon frowned.  
  
"No he's not." Nyssa blew a raspberry in the air. "I can control my Coyote, don't you worry." She didn't figure Vince would be too angry when he found out Jesse was awake and it was her talking to him that woke the boy up.  
  
"I hope so." Leon didn't look convinced.  
  
"You never believe me Leon. Everything I tell you lately you look sceptical." Nyssa looked up at him with laughter in her eyes. "When was the last time I was wrong?"  
  
"I don't know, but things are going too well. If the last three weeks have taught me anything it's that nothing ever comes this easy to this team." Leon was sure that things couldn't go this well for ever.  
  
"Well, maybe we've had our share of bad luck. Did you ever think of that? It has to end sometime."  
  
"Yeah, ok, I'll give you that one, but V is still gonna kick my ass." Leon cringed. He knew Vince could easily take him, and he wasn't looking forward to it.  
  
"Leon. Vince is a big marshmallow under the tough guy act he puts on. He'll be so happy about Jesse that he'll get over you taking me here in seconds. Besides, it's not like it was your idea. It was mine, and I tricked you into it. You know he knows how good I am at tricking people into stuff."  
  
"Big marshmallow huh?" Leon didn't buy it. Of course Nyssa wasn't around for the time that Vince went to jail for armed robbery. Leon knew that Nyssa knew that Vince was into stuff he shouldn't be in, but just how mean and violent a temper her 'marshmallow' had had obviously been lost on her. Leon knew that Vince softened around Nyssa, but that was the exception not the norm. But Leon didn't figure that Vince would really beat him up, but he sure was in for a lecture and a half. Dom would try to referee, or get mad as Vince. That remained to be seen.  
  
"Yeah, he's all soft and shit under that scruffy exterior." She grinned.  
  
"Sure girl. Whatever you say." Leon sat down to await the doctor's verdict. When they still hadn't heard anything 30 minutes later he stood up and started to pace the room. Nyssa was reading an issue of Reader's Digest that had news in it that would have been current about 3 years ago. She was giggling away to herself. "What's so funny?" He gave up and asked.  
  
"I'm reading the joke pages." She giggled again. Then she read him one of the jokes. He couldn't help it, he cracked up laughing too. "Now, sit down before you wear a hole through the floor. Pacing around isn't going to help us know anything faster."  
  
"No, but I can't sit still while I worry."  
  
"Go get a snack then, you're driving me insane." Nyssa tried to shoe him off with a hand gesture at the door.  
  
"Now you know how I feel ¾ of the time I'm around you." Leon laughed.  
  
"I'm not that annoying." Nyssa frowned.  
  
"Yes you are. I've never met anyone as use to getting their own way as you, as spoiled as you." Leon smirked at her. He knew she wasn't going to be pleased he'd said those things.  
  
"Yeah, well blame Vince. He made me this way. If he spoils me it's not my fault. And just because he gives me my way almost all the time isn't my fault either." She stuck her tongue out at Leon. The doctor picked that exact moment to join them in the waiting room.  
  
Both Nyssa and Leon stood up and unconsciously grabbed for each other's hands to await the news.  
  
"Are you two relatives of the young man?" The doctor opened with.  
  
"Well, I am." Leon answered.  
  
"How so?" The doctor asked.  
  
"I'm his brother." Leon answered and Nyssa glanced at him in mild surprise. She hadn't known.  
  
"Where are your parents?" The doctor sure was obsessed with finding out where a person's parents were, Nyssa thought, but didn't say anything.  
  
"Our mom's are gone, we're half brothers I guess, but our dad is in jail." Leon answered and was about to ask a question of his own of the doctor when the other man spoke again.  
  
"Are you guys some sort of group of kids who's parents are in jail?" He knew Nyssa's dad was also in prison.  
  
"No, it's a strange coincidence." Nyssa answered with sarcasm. She wanted the doctor to get on with it.  
  
"Jesse's over 21." Leon told the doctor.  
  
"Ok. Well, I'd like to talk to you about your brother then. He really should only be getting visits from family right now." The doctor looked pointedly at Nyssa and was obviously waiting for her to leave the room.  
  
Nyssa shot Leon a sad look and went to let go of his hand. Leon tightened his grip on her. Not only was Nyssa, and the whole team, his family, Jesse's family, he wasn't getting this type of news on his own. "Nyssa stays. We're a team. A family. Maybe not a conventional one, but family still. I'm not asking her to leave and neither are you."  
  
Nyssa looked at Leon in shock. That was a lot of back bone for Leon to show. He normally went with the flow. Of course she realized he might be scared of what he was about to hear. She kept silent and waited for the two men to battle it out. It turned out not to be a battle at all.  
  
"Fine, I understand." The doctor answered. He remembered back to all the people who'd been to visit the boy over the last week. They seemed closer then a lot of families he'd seen. The man in front of him now came twice a day without fail, which made sense now that he knew the man was the boy's brother. But the rough looking man with the shaggy hair came almost every day, the pretty man came just as much. The other two girls came all the time too, and the pretty one cried every day. The tough one almost looked worse while she tried to maintain the tough look and almost failed every time she saw the boy looking so still.  
  
And the tall, dark, bald man. He was the one the doctor couldn't figure out. He was obviously the father figure of this group. They all looked to him for guidance. But he hardly came at all, and when he did he looked so desperate to escape that the doctor didn't know what to think. It was like the look that he saw on the faces of people who'd caused the harm to come to their own family. He didn't think the large man had shot his little friend, but he was obviously guilty over what had happened for some reason. But he couldn't deny this family, strange as they were, visits to their youngest team member.  
  
"He must be the baby of your group huh?" The doctor asked. Leon gave a small laugh.  
  
"In mentality maybe, but not in age. Nyssa here is the baby in age.  
  
"They boy is older then her?" The doctor asked Leon.  
  
"Yeah, by 2 years almost."  
  
"Well." The doctor thought about that. It was surprising. He shook his head. "Anyhow, back to the young man's condition. He's awake, and there doesn't seem to be any lasting damage to his brain. He seems to be fine mentally." They knew it was serious but Leon and Nyssa shared a small smile at the though of Jesse being 'fine' mentally. The doctor continued. "And it also seems that he didn't suffer any lasting effects to his spinal cord either. He should regain full use of his legs. I didn't tell him about the possibility of paralysis because I don't want him to worry as it might hamper his progress. He's not out of the woods yet, because we can't let him out of bed to try to walk. Just because he has feeling in his limbs doesn't mean there wasn't nerve damage. But we'll just let him recover for now and worry about any damage that might be there as time goes on. I really feel at this point he'll make a full recovery."  
  
"Yes!" Nyssa and Leon both exclaimed and hugged. The doctor smiled.  
  
"So, can well call the rest of our team and tell them he's awake? Jesse really needs to see Dominic. He's worried that Dom is mad at him, which isn't the case at all and I think it'll really do him good to see that Dom still loves him." Nyssa stated. Leon hadn't known that Jesse was so worried about Dom being mad at him, since Jesse had told Nyssa while Leon was out of the room.  
  
"Jesse thinks Dom is mad at him?" Leon asked in shock. "Why?"  
  
"Because Dom hardly visited. I told him it was because of Dom's tough guy front and that he couldn't come down because he was scared he'd let on just how scared and upset he was and Jesse believed me I think, but the sooner Dom comes down and tells him that he isn't mad the better." Nyssa finished.  
  
"You can bring everyone down to see him whenever you wish, but please just try to keep the topics happy at this point." The doctor told them. "And then I would like you to go home and rest as I told you when I let you out." The doctor frowned. "Maybe I'll wait around till your young man comes and have a talk with him."  
  
"I didn't tell him I left the house Doc. I tricked Leon here into bringing me. And ultimately since my talking to Jesse is what woke him, can't we just agree that a power higher then all of us had a hand in bringing me down here? Besides, I'm fine. I'm practically back to normal." Nyssa told the doctor.  
  
"Really? Let me see your incision." The doctor looked sceptical. Nyssa hauled up her shirt and then the waist of her pants down and showed him. It was totally closed over.  
  
"See?" She said with a satisfied smirk.  
  
"Yes, I do see. You can have those stitches out now." The doctor smiled at the look on her face.  
  
"But that's not why I came down here." Nyssa whined and pouted.  
  
"Oh come now, it takes a second, doesn't hurt and then you don't have to come back and have it done late." Nyssa followed the doctor to an empty room where he removed her stitches while Leon waited outside the room. She let out a few startled ouches but it wasn't too bad. She left the room rubbing her side.  
  
"You ok?" Leon asked.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine." She pouted some more. "At least this should be good ammo for getting V to go easy." She figured it would work. Leon cringed.  
  
"Let's hope."  
  
"Did you call them yet?" Nyssa asked.  
  
"Nope, wanted to wait for you."  
  
"Well, I'm here now so call the garage. They should all be there." Leon took his cell phone off his belt and called DT. Dom answered.  
  
"DT automotive, how can I help you?"  
  
"Yo Dawg."  
  
"Leon, where the hell are you? You were supposed to be back here like an hour ago."  
  
"I'm still at the hospital." Leon answered, then heard the phone drop. "Dom?" He called.  
  
Dom had dropped the phone then sat down. He thought he was about to get terrible news. He took a further second to compose himself and picked the phone back up. "Sorry Leon, I dropped the phone. What's going on?" Dom braced himself to hear that he had lost yet another loved one from his life.  
  
"Jesse woke up." Leon told him excitedly. "And they think he's going to be completely fine."  
  
"Really? That's great." Dom stated. That was better then great. It was the first really good news he'd gotten since Vince and Nyssa came home. "When can we see him?"  
  
"As quick as you can all get here. But I have one thing to tell you and I don't figure you and Vince are gonna be too happy."  
  
"What's that Leon?"  
  
"I allowed Nyssa to trick me into bringing her down here to see Jesse. But it was her talking to him that finally brought him around so you guys can't be too mad." Leon sounded nervous.  
  
"You got no worries from me man, anything that works is good with me. Vince on the other hand." Dom trailed off for a second. "You know how protective he is over Nyssa and it's only gotten worse since this shit. It's kinda strange to see Vince being soft and shit over some chick."  
  
"Yeah, and Nyssa thinks he's a big marshmallow under the tough guy act." Leon laughed, shooting Nyssa a look while he talked on the phone.  
  
"Well, we don't need to fill her in on how real the tough guy exterior is or how opposite of marshmallow he is." Dom said, but he did find the thoughts of anyone thinking their Vince was a softy funny.  
  
"So, just prepare him for that if you think you can. How long do you think you'll be?"  
  
"I just have to close up the garage here and collect Mia from the store. Maybe 20 minutes."  
  
"See you then Dawg." Leon hung up and turned to Nyssa. "He said 20 minutes or so and they'll all be here."  
  
Leon and Nyssa went to sit down in the waiting room and await the team. 


	42. Everyone makes up

Chapter 42 - Everyone Makes Up.  
  
AN: Sorry for the long wait but lately I'm as lazy as hell. But this is 9 pages of new story. I hope it was worth the wait. Here's one of my slight sexual content warnings for near the end. Don't think it jumps over pg13 but here's a warning all the same. Enjoy, review, it's all good. Peace, Tempest.  
  
Nyssa glanced over at Leon. They were still waiting for the team and Leon looked nervous.  
  
"It's gonna be fine Leon. They won't be too mad at you. I can handle Vince. I won't let him get too mad at you." Nyssa wanted to reassure him. She felt bad for putting him in this position, but Jesse was awake. Surely that was worth something. Plus she really didn't see Vince getting that mad when he knew Jesse was ok.  
  
"I guess I know that, but I'm still worried about how Vince is gonna react to you being here."  
  
"Leon, I know I tricked you into this and I won't let him come down on you for something I did. If he's gonna be mad and yell at anyone I'm gonna make sure it's me." Nyssa said, seriously. She didn't want Leon to worry about Vince blaming him for the whole situation.  
  
Leon looked at her. She was such a nice girl. The more Leon thought about it the more he realized that nice wasn't the right word. It wasn't strong enough. She was down for the team no matter what. She was totally loyal to them. She clearly loved Vince. She'd fight to the death for Vince, maybe for the whole team. She looked out for Jesse. She could race, even if she wasn't fantastic at it. She and Letty were tight; it was nice for Letty to have a girlfriend who had more of the same interests. Not to mention the day she'd taken care of him when he'd broken down over Jesse. And she'd never let on just how much he'd broken down over that to the guys. Leon was very thankful for that. No matter how good his reasons for breaking down like that he didn't want the guys to know he'd cried like a baby. And while he knew Vince had tried to get all the details out of her about what had happened, she'd kept it to herself. Leon had to respect that. He couldn't get over how much Nyssa had come to mean to the team.  
  
Leon found himself again wishing that he'd picked Nyssa up all that time ago and not Vince. He never wanted a girlfriend till someone else had one that he liked. He had his moments of being jealous of Dom over Letty too. Then he came to his senses and knew he wasn't ready to have a steady girlfriend. He knew that he and Nyssa probably wouldn't have made a good match anyway, but it didn't stop him from wishing he had a girl like her right now while he thought about it. He knew that he was far too easygoing for Nyssa. She'd walk all over him. For all Vince spoiled her he kept her in line too. She'd run roughshod over Leon because he'd never want to tell her no or put her in her place.  
  
But Vince had this fantastic girl to come home to, to worry about him, to take care of him, and to worry and take care of himself. They were so good together and it was hard to watch while you were the only one who didn't have anyone. All he had was a steady stream of blonde girls, half of who's names he didn't even remember. And they were just using him the same as he was using them. Well, he figured that they couldn't both use each other, but it was always mutually understood that all that was offered was a one night affair. But sometimes he almost felt like no matter how often he said he didn't want a relationship he was looking for something, for someone.  
  
"I let you trick me though. I coulda said no and not brought you." Leon didn't want to let her take all of the responsibility, he'd let her take some of it.  
  
"You know if you didn't bring me I woulda just came on my own and that woulda been dangerous. I really shouldn't be driving. Even I know that. But I would have if you didn't bring me. So you really did a good thing. We'll work it out Leon. Don't worry about it." She stood up. "I'm going to go wait in Jesse's room. Comin'?"  
  
"Sure, sounds good." Leon stood up and followed Nyssa out of the waiting room and into Jesse's room.  
  
"Hey kiddo, how's it goin now?" Nyssa asked Jesse with a sunny smile.  
  
"Great, they said I'm gonna be fine. But they won't tell me when I'll get to go home." Jesse looked sort of scared.  
  
"Well, you need to get better first. Don't rush things." Nyssa answered. Leon gave her a look, she knew he was getting at the fact that she rushed to get home and rushed to get out of the house before she was supposed to be allowed.  
  
"I don't want to be here anymore." Jesse was clearing upset, fighting tears.  
  
"I know but you'd better stay till the doc says you'd be ok if you left." Leon sat down in a chair beside the bed. "You're gonna need to work to get better Jess. I know the doctor told you that." Leon tried to be gentle about what he knew would come as bad news to Jesse.  
  
"But on the bright side the whole team is on the way down to see you." Nyssa told Jesse, sitting on the side of the bed and smiling down at Jesse. "They couldn't wait to see you when they heard you were awake. Dom just has to go get Mia and they're coming right here."  
  
"I hope Vince doesn't send the two of you right back in here with me when he finds out you came here against the doctor's orders." Jesse laughed, but the laughter stopped when he saw how scared Leon really looked. "But I'm sure he'll be ok, he'll be so glad to have me back." Jesse tried to lighten the mood. Nyssa knew what he was up to and she leaned down and gave him a careful hug.  
  
"Thanks Jess." She said softly so that only she and Jesse would hear. He smiled at her. She glanced at Leon who was looking a little pale. Just then the door to the room burst open and the whole team trooped in, laughing and in high spirits. Then Vince's eyes lit on Nyssa and a look of pure anger flashed onto his face.  
  
Leon knew in that second that Dom had taken the easy way out and not told Vince that Nyssa was at the hospital with him. Finding her here was a total shock. Leon cursed Dom even as he prepared for the worst.  
  
"What are you doin' here and how did you get here?" Vince growled, staring at Nyssa.  
  
"I wanted to come see Jesse. We can discuss it in more detail later V." Nyssa shot him a look that she hoped Jesse couldn't see, warning him not to upset the boy when he'd just woken up. If Vince upset Jesse now Nyssa would have to hurt him.  
  
"You better believe we'll be discussing it in more detail later." Vince sat down in a chair close to Jesse. "So, you finally rejoined us kid?" The anger left Vince's face while he was talking to Jesse. He'd always had a soft spot for the boy.  
  
"Yeah, Nyssa told me you and Dom were starting to work on my car and I knew I had to come back before you fucked it up." Jesse laughed at his own joke. Dom chuckled and even Vince smiled.  
  
"It's good to have you back Jess." Dom added to the conversation.  
  
"Yeah, we missed you Jesse." Letty told him as she sat down on the bed on the other side from Nyssa.  
  
"I'm so glad your ok." Mia said as she cried. She'd been so upset about the whole thing. Ever since she'd seen Jesse on the sidewalk looking so still. She couldn't believe he was awake and going to be ok. She leaned in and gave Jesse an exuberant hug.  
  
"Go easy on me Mi." Jesse croaked as he tried to breath around Mia's stranglehold on him.  
  
"Sorry." Mia giggled. "You gave me such a fright. Don't ever do anything like that again." She turned serious.  
  
"Yes mother." Jesse laughed. Dom was like the father of the team, but Letty was not the mother. That was Mia's job and she was darn good at it.  
  
Dom looked around at the team, his team, his family. It was good to have them all there, and to know they were all going to be ok. He was happier than he had been in a long time and it was a very good feeling. The cold knot of dread he'd had in his gut ever since everything went down loosened and finally disappeared as he watched Jesse carry on with the rest of the team. He realized that Jesse wasn't catching his eyes and hadn't really spoken to him since they'd gotten to the hospital. Dom couldn't blame Jesse for hating him. It was Dom's idea to get involved in everything and Dom had failed the boy by letting him get into trouble the way he had. He was supposed to look out for Jesse, he knew the boy was impressionable and he'd failed to do it.  
  
"Um, could I talk to Jesse alone for a minute guys?" Dom asked. He managed to keep the fear out of his voice. Dom was finding himself quite scared that Jesse was going to tell him off, to hate him for how things had gone down. The team filed out of the room, shooting Dom looks as they went. They didn't know what was going down.  
  
"Jesse."  
  
"Dom."  
  
They both started to speak to the other at the same time. "Go ahead." Dom offered.  
  
"I'm sorry that I did something so stupid and I hope you're not too mad at me." Jesse mumbled out, staring at the blankets on his bed.  
  
"Jesse." Dom sighed. Jesse looked up with tears in his eyes, he thought Dom was really mad at him and didn't want to forgive him so fast. "I'm not mad at you. I never was. Well, maybe for the first hour or two after you took off but never after then."  
  
"Really. But you never came to see me." Jesse clearly didn't believe that Dom wasn't mad at him."  
  
"Yes I did. I just didn't come as much as the other guys or say much while I was here. The truth is Jess," Dom took a deep breath and blew it out. He didn't want to say what he knew he had to. He hated to talk about topics dealing with feelings. "I'm surprised that you don't hate me. I got us into this mess. I should have known you'd get in over your head. I should have made sure you had money to race so you'd never have had to put up your car. I should have kept a better eye on you. The very fact that you're in here is my fault." Dom ended and looked Jesse in the eye.  
  
"Dom, I did something stupid. I should have asked you before I raced, not just did it. I don't hate you, I'm surprised as hell you're not mad at me but I don't hate you." Jesse couldn't imagine ever hating Dom. Jesse had never thought that any part of what had occurred was Dom's fault. "I know I fucked up. You didn't make me race."  
  
"No, but after you took off Johnny talked some shit to me about us being the people who narc'ed him out and I had to talk shit back. Then we had a huge fight and I pretty much pounded Johnny into the ground in front of everyone who was there. It was me embarrassing him like that that made him decide to go after you. He went after you to get revenge on me. I saw it in his eyes as the bastard looked up at me from all fours on the ground. It's my fault you're in here. He didn't want the Jetta. He can buy 100 cars that would blow it right out of the water."  
  
"But if I hadn't raced him the whole situation wouldn't have happened." Jesse hung his head. Dom picked up his hand.  
  
"Jesse, I'm not mad at you, none of this was your fault, and the reason why I didn't visit you as much as the rest of the team was because I was guilty over getting you into this mess. I let you down and I'm sorry. No more worrying that I'm mad at you, I'm not. Just get better."  
  
"Well, I'm not mad at you and I don't think you got us into anything on your own. I guess we'll just have to mark the whole situation up to fate and leave it at that." Jesse looked at the top of Dom's bald, bowed head. Dom looked up.  
  
"You're right. We all got involved in a stupid situation and that makes everything that happened simply the result of what we all did. Now I better bring the rest of the team in here before they go nuts." They shared a smile and Dom got up to go get the others.  
  
While Jesse and Dom were having their discussion the rest of the team was watching Vince try not to explode. He was trying. He wasn't succeeding but he was trying.  
  
"You aren't even allowed out of bed till next week." Vince shouted at Nyssa. "How the hell did you get here?"  
  
"I had to come see Jesse. Something told me to come see him. So I did." Nyssa glared back defiantly.  
  
"Answer my question. How'd you get here?"  
  
"Leon brought me because I tricked him into it." She finally answered after pausing with a mutinous expression on her face.  
  
"Leon!" Vince spun on his friend. "What the fuck were you thinking? She's not even supposed to be out of bed for Christ's sake." Vince roared as he turned on Leon. Leon held up his hands in surrender and went to start to try to explain himself.  
  
"Vince, this is between you and me. Don't go in at Leon for what I made him do." Nyssa was getting slightly annoyed and it was showing in her voice.  
  
"Well, he brought you here. How'd you make him do that? He shoulda known better." Vince was still looking at Leon but talking to her.  
  
"I made him do it by telling him if he didn't bring me I'd come on my own."  
  
"He knew you couldn't because I told him I hid all the car keys. You were as good as stranded and he knew it." Vince was so irate it was scaring both Mia and Letty. And Leon by the look on his face. Nyssa was the only one who wasn't scared of Vince. The other three had all seen first hand what he was capable of when he was this infuriated and Nyssa never had. But she didn't seem the least bit intimidated. She was giving it back to Vince as good as he was giving it out.  
  
"Yeah, but what you didn't know is that not only can I break into the Mustang without keys, I can hot wire it too. So either way I was coming down here. Leon did you a favour by keeping me out from behind the wheel and making sure I didn't hurt myself. He made me take it easy the whole way here and after we got here."  
  
"I hope he never does me a favour like this again. Damn it, you're gonna end up back in here if your doctor sees you." Vince had gotten his tone down to a dull roar.  
  
"He has seen me. He took my stitches out. And you can ask Jesse. The only thing that made him wake up was me coming to talk to him. Everything happens for a reason and the reason why I came down here was to talk to Jesse and wake him up. Vince you're over reacting."  
  
"I don't want you to get sick or hurt. You were told to stay home till at least two weeks from when you came home. Instead you turned around and snuck out of the house and Leon helped you do it despite the talk we already had about him letting you stay up out of bed. He knew better." Vince was back to all out shouting. Nyssa looked around the room.  
  
"Could you guys leave us alone for a few minutes? Go get a drink or something, kay?"  
  
The team all left. Vince made a move to stop Leon from leaving but Nyssa stopped him from laying a hand on the other man with a look from her flashing violet eyes. "Vincent, you're behaving like an asshole." She said once they were alone, she figured she'd pull out all the stops and start to use her big guns. Vince was pacing in front of her while she sat in one of the uncomfortable plastic hospital chairs.  
  
"And you are acting like a spoiled child. You were told to stay in bed for a week, then to do nothing more strenuous then walk around the house for another week. Yet I find out one of my best friends helped you go against those orders and took you out of the house. Then you take this attitude like I don't have the right to be mad and you send people around and." Vince trailed off in sheer frustration. He wanted to scream. He hated to be called Vincent. He was not in a good mood.  
  
"Vince, the doctor says I'm all healed up. I'm not sore at all. I didn't go run a marathon; I came to the hospital to visit a very sick friend. A friend who is now conscious because of my visit I might add. I'd think you could get over this, like Dom did, and be happy Jesse is awake. You have poor Leon scared to death. You know damn well that I can convince you guys to do anything for me. You can't blame poor Leon for this."  
  
"The hell I can't. He's a grown man. There's no way he should have allowed himself to be conned into taking you here."  
  
"Vince, get over it. Jesse's awake." It occurred to her how to diffuse this situation in that heartbeat. The doctor told her she was almost as good as new. That gave her an excellent idea of what to do.  
  
"I'm not going to get over anything." He roared back and then watched as she stood up and walked up to him.  
  
"Oh yes you are." She breathed out with what she hoped was a seductive look in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck, slid one of her hands into his hair and pulled his lips down to hers. She hadn't had anything more then chaste kisses on the forehead from him since she'd come home. She knew the doctor had likely told Vince that she wasn't able to be intimate with him till after she was better but she felt better enough right now. And she knew that after three weeks of not getting any Vince was likely more then ready to get some now. And she was going to use that fact to the best of her advantage. Plus she wanted him too, had for days but hadn't known how to tell him it would be ok.  
  
He kissed her like he was drowning in her for about three minutes but it felt like forever to the two people who'd been denied each other for the last three weeks. Then Vince tried to break it off. He wasn't ready to stop being mad at her. He knew if they kept kissing lust was going to replace his anger. Nyssa felt him try to back away from her mentally so she did the only thing she could do. If he wouldn't kiss her mouth, she could think of several things to do with hers that should keep his interest. She started with nibbling down his neck while she slowly started to move her hands from around his neck down his back.  
  
"No.. Oh.. That's so g..Oh yeah.. No.. Stop that..Oh, don't stop.. Argh!" He groaned. Vince knew what she was up to. And he wanted her to stop so he could stay angry almost as much as he wanted to pull her into the first empty room he could find and start to peel her cloths off her. He'd been deprived of her for too long. And as much as he knew she was playing him to make him stop yelling, he could sense the desperation in her for him too. And it made him feel euphoric. She wanted him just as bad as he wanted her. So when she started to walk him backwards he didn't fight her. The backs of his knees hit the edge of the plastic chair and he collapsed into it as she climbed onto his lap straddling him.  
  
"Baby?" She asked, breathless.  
  
"Yea?" He answered her, not doing much better.  
  
"Can we go home soon?" She asked him with a look that Vince would have had to call sex crazed. He knew the feeling. He imagined she could see pretty much the same look in his eyes too.  
  
"You think I don't know what you're up to?" He asked. It was no use, he wasn't mad anymore. He grinned at her.  
  
"Oh, I know you know. But I know what you're 'up' to too so I think it's a good time to tell the team that we'll see them later." She started to nibble on him again.  
  
"I love it when you do that." He groaned and pulled her lips back to his for another breath stealing kiss. And that was how the team found them.  
  
"Guys, this is a hospital for crying out loud." Mia said. Leon looked very relieved. Letty laughed. She pulled the same trick on Dom all the time. Make him forget he's mad by turning him on.  
  
"Um, we're gonna, we've gotta.." Vince struggled to find the words he needed to make a graceful exit.  
  
"I think I left the iron on and we have to go check it out." Nyssa said with a giggle and a blush. She didn't know who they thought they were fooling.  
  
"Yeah, that's it." Vince added. "Tell Jesse we'll be back after we check it out." He stood up taking Nyssa with him.  
  
"But won't he know it doesn't take an hour to check if you left an iron on?" Letty asked with a smirk and saw how Vince and Nyssa were looking at each other. "Or two hours?" She asked with one eyebrow cocked.  
  
"Better make it three." Nyssa answered then blushed a very bright red. Vince threw his head back and laughed till he cried. He started to walk out of the room trailing Nyssa behind him. She turned around and looked at Leon. "Marshmallow." She mouthed so that Vince wouldn't hear her then turned back around and followed him out of the room. The remainder of the team laughed. Leon shook his head. Maybe old coyote was a marshmallow for his girl. He sure as hell wasn't any other time, but maybe he was for Nyssa.  
  
Dom came into the room minutes after Nyssa and Vince had left.  
  
"Where are V and Nyssa?" Dom asked.  
  
"They had to go, um, make up." Leon stammered out.  
  
"I see. So we'll be seeing them some time tomorrow then?" Dom asked with a grin.  
  
"Something like that." Letty answered. The remaining team went to go visit with Jesse.  
  
Nyssa teased Vince mercilessly the whole way home from the hospital. As soon as they got home he dragged her out of the car and down the stairs. They immerged from their room at 9pm starving. As they started to make some supper for themselves they got a rousing round of applause for the auditory show they'd been putting on. Nyssa blushed scarlet and if she wasn't mistaken so did Vince. But they ate and then went to put on act two.  
  
Nyssa was worn out. She'd fallen asleep with her head on Vince's chest. Vince was starting to nod off too when a knock came at his door. He groaned as he got out of bed and struggled into his shorts. "Wha?" He asked as he opened the door. Who ever it was had it coming. They shoulda known he wouldn't want to be disturbed after what they'd all no doubt heard. It was Leon.  
  
"Can we talk for a second?" Leon asked, looking scared.  
  
"Sure." Vince sighed. "What do you wanna talk about?" When had he become such a hard ass his own friends were scared of him? It wasn't something he was proud of. If making your friends scared of you was part of not going soft then he all of a sudden realized it was time to go soft. Or at least softer then he had been, obviously. Leon should know that no matter how mad he was at members of his own team he wouldn't beat them up. He tried to look less intimidating.  
  
"I know you weren't happy you never got to finish yellin' at me, and I want to know if we need to have it out, or if we're cool." Leon had never had a situation arise where he had to worry about one of his own team mates beating him up but he figured if it was going to happen it would be over this. Vince had been enraged when he'd found out Nyssa was at the hospital and how she'd gotten there.  
  
"It's cool. I know how she is man. I was pissed at first but she's totally right. If she wanted to go she'd a gone if you took her or not. You kept her safe as you could and well, I'm feelin' pretty mellow right now." Vince gave Leon a very satisfied smirk.  
  
"I would be too Dawg." Leon laughed as he walked back up the stairs. Vince returned to his bed, crawled back in, pulled his girl against him and went to sleep happy for the first time since the shit all hit the fan. He had his girl back 100 percent, Jesse was awake and it looked like they were gonna get off. Everything was going to be ok. 


	43. Brian tells his story

Chapter 43 - Brian tells his story  
  
The next week for the team was mostly spent working their butts off and visiting Jesse, who was slated to get to come home in a week or maybe two more. Then he'd need extensive therapy to get over his injuries.  
  
Tuesday came and Brian got dressed in his police dress blues, knowing instinctively that what was to come wasn't going to be any sort of casual affair. He knew it would be incredibly formal and he knew to dress the part. As he came down the stairs in his dress uniform he saw the team all look up at him from their vantage point on the various chairs and couches around the living room.  
  
Vince looked up at Brian as he dismounted the stairs, the sun glinting off Brian's shield and the other man looking much more mature and adult in his uniform then he did in his street clothes the team was use to seeing him in. Vince felt a moment of the old hatred steal into him but then it was gone. He still didn't really like Brian, couldn't totally trust him, but the other man had really come through for them and Vince couldn't fault him for that. He was about to put his reputation on the line for them. If he was caught lying they were all going to jail. Vince didn't want to think about it.  
  
"Well, I'm off to the station." Brian was pale. Mia got up and went to his side, grabbing him in a tight hug.  
  
"Good luck Bri." She said. "I love you."  
  
"I love you too Mia. It's gonna be fine." Brian tried to smile.  
  
"Good luck." Dom said as he stood up and walked over to Brian. He clasped him on the shoulder. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this man. I know we fucked up and likely deserve everything we should be getting but I really appreciate this chance you're giving us to start over. And I meant what I said. You're welcome here as long as you want and you'll always have a job with me."  
  
"Thanks Dom, and you know, Harry offered to let me keep my job at his store. I'm thinkin that working for Harry and for you sounds better then police work now anyway. I might just quit in a few days if this goes well and tell them I just don't have the heart for it anymore."  
  
Vince and Leon both nodded at Brian as he left, they didn't know what they could add to what Dom had said. When Brian was gone Vince looked around the room at the team. "I just want to point out that I was right about Spilner." Dom groaned, thinking that Vince was going to start shit. "But it turns out I was wrong about O'Connor. He's an alright guy. Now that doesn't mean that I like him or anything. But he's an alright guy." Vince trailed off.  
  
Nyssa wrapped her arms around his neck from her seat in his lap and gave him a big kiss. "That may just be the nicest thing I've ever heard you say baby." She smiled at him. He was a big marshmallow, it was the only explanation. She turned her back to him and looked at Leon again. "Marshmallow." She mouthed and Leon cracked up.  
  
"What's so funny?" Vince asked with a playful growl.  
  
"Nothin baby." She kissed him again. Vince gave Leon a dirty look.  
  
"You two been talkin bout me?" Vince asked Leon.  
  
"Naw dawg. Nothin like that." Leon looked guilty. Vince knew they had been but he had a fair idea what they'd been talking about too. He knew he was acting soft lately, but when he got back into his routine he'd go back to the way he was before. Well, he'd always be soft with Nyssa, but the rest of the team better not get use to the nice guy treatment they'd been getting lately.  
  
"I know you guys think I'm goin soft on you all lately, don't get use to it. As soon as I'm back into my normal life it'll end." Vince scowled to try and convince them all of this fact.  
  
"Sure baby. Sure." Nyssa laughed. "So, do we all sit around scared and wait on Brian or do we leave him a note in case he gets back early and go see Jesse?"  
  
"Go see Jesse!" Came the unanimous answer.  
  
"Yeah, lets go visit Jesse." Letty added. "It's gonna be hell waiting on Brian, not knowing if we should take off, or take our punishment, or if he managed to work it out for us. I can't take it sitting around here waiting." They all agreed so they piled into Vince's and Letty's cars and headed down to the hospital.  
  
Brian arrived at the station in his supra and walked in. He hadn't wanted to take the supra but he had no other ride other then to have one of the team drive him down and that hadn't seemed smart. He nodded and smiled to the desk clerk and then walked into Tanner's office. Tanner and Blikens were already in the office waiting for him. Brian knew he was on time so the only reason he could figure for that was they'd been talking. Likely about him.  
  
"Gentlemen." He opened with.  
  
"Have a seat O'Connor." Bilkens was clearly mad with Brian. Brian knew why, but he hoped Bilkens couldn't prove it.  
  
"Are we having this meeting in here?" Brian asked. "There aren't going to be any other officers present or anything?" Brian had expected to face a whole panel of other people such as internal affairs, FBI brass, and the Chief of the LAPD.  
  
"Why do you ask Brian?" Tanner asked.  
  
"I don't want to have to tell this story for the third time so I want everyone who's going to have to talk to me about it to be in this room for this telling. I'm getting sick of repeating myself." Brian was finding it surprisingly easy to fall back into his cocky cop routine. He was his old self. He was also finding himself strangely comfortable with lying under what was essentially under oath as well. He didn't come off scared or nervous, he came off sure of himself and cocky. That was just the Brian that Tanner knew.  
  
"I'll get started then, and you won't be asked to tell the story again, we're going to record your answers for future playback if necessary." Bilkins looked at his papers then hit record on his personal tape recorder. Bilkins stated the date and time then looked at Brian. "The following is the solemn deposition of Office Brian O'Connor of the LAPD in the matter of Dominic Toretto and the investigation he was under in the matter of hijacked transfer trucks. Officer O'Connor, is it your testimony that you found no evidence of Dominic Toretto being involved in illegal activity?"  
  
"Yes, it is my testimony that the only illegal activity I witnessed while investigating Dominic Toretto and his team and family was illegal street racing, which the department and the FBI were already aware of. I found no evidence to connect them with the hijacked trucks." Brian was very proud of how sure and calm he sounded. He hoped he looked as calm on the outside.  
  
"While you were investigating the Toretto team over the period of 4 months you never found any evidence of any sort that could tie them to the trucks?"  
  
"That is correct, no I did not." If Bilkins was going to trip him up he'd have to do better then simply asking the same question over and over, Brian thought. This was almost too easy.  
  
"On the day of August the 12th you called in a cell phone trace on the subjects cell phone while you had his sister in your car with you. Why don't you tell us about why you did that?" Tanner asked his first question. He didn't know why he wanted to help Brian out but he did. He should want to see Toretto brought to justice for something Tanner was quite sure he did, but he didn't want to see Brian lose he career or his respect over this. Tanner felt somewhat responsible for not pulling Brian out when it was clear the boy was in over his head.  
  
"On August the 12th I got a frantic phone call from one of the other team members, Nyssa Williams. She said she and her boyfriend Vince had gone for a drive, trying to locate one of the men on the team, Jesse, who'd raced for the pink slip of his car, lost and taken off, and while they were out they'd had to stop for gas. At the truck stop they'd stopped at a masked man forced them into his truck at gunpoint and kidnapped them. She didn't know where they were or what was going to happen to her. In order to find her I had to blow my cover and trace the cell phone to find her."  
  
"Why was that Officer O'Conner?" Bilkins asked, clearly not buying it.  
  
"Nyssa had Dominic's cell phone from earlier in the day. She called me on it when she got a chance to try and get me to help her. Dom's cell phone had my number in it and she used the speed dial to call the first number. Brian happened to be first in the list. But as she didn't know where she was and was calling on a cell phone the only way to find her was to trace the cell phone. I didn't know the number so I had to blow my cover to Mia to get it. Once we had it we headed off to the location of the phone. We found the signal was coming from a transfer truck and followed him awhile. After a few more miles the trucker pulled over and a shot was fired. The trucker had roughed up Nyssa pretty bad and then not only roughed up but shot Vince when he tried to fight back for his girlfriend's sake. Then I called in the rescue chopper to save Vince because he had heavy bleeding from rope burns on his arm from where he'd been tied up and from where he'd been shot. And it was also evident that Nyssa had been injured internally." Brian was again surprised at how smoothly the lies left his lips.  
  
"Why didn't you simply ask Dominic for his cell phone number?" Bilkins asked. Dom had helped Brian prepare for all these questions and he was very glad of the fact now.  
  
"Dom and everyone else but myself and Mia had gone to look for Jesse. When he took off with the car that Johnny Tran had just won from him we all knew there'd be trouble. So the whole team went to try to find Jesse before the Trans did. They left me behind to watch out for the cars and trailers and Mia, and to be around in case Jesse came back. There was no one else to ask but Mia, and she didn't want to tell me till I told her how important it was, and to do that I had to blow my cover to her. I believe you found Vince's blue 1999 Nissan Maxima at just the truck stop that they told me they were picked up at." They had, Brian knew because Nyssa's uncle Steve had planted it there.  
  
"Alright." Bilkins was upset. The kid's story made too much sense. Bilkins knew it was a lie, but it was a well planned one and they couldn't prove a thing. Yet. He had more questions to ask. "While you were investigating the Toretto team you became close to them all but especially to the sister, Mia Toretto, is this correct."  
  
"Yes, it is correct. I used Mia as a way into the team. She was the easiest to get to and as she wasn't really involved in the street racing culture, she was the most trusting of the team. She didn't see me as a racing threat so she didn't distrust me." Brian answered truthfully when he could.  
  
"Did you have sex with Mia Toretto under the cover of being Brian Spilner?" Bilkens pulled out his big guns.  
  
"Yes I did." Brian couldn't lie about it, he was still seeing Mia and living with her.  
  
"How many times?" Bilkins asked.  
  
"How is this relevant?" Brian asked Tanner.  
  
"It's not, please continue with questions that pertain to the investigation please." Tanner spoke to Bilkins.  
  
"Is it correct that you are currently living with the Toretto team and in fact still seeing Mia Toretto?"  
  
"Yes, it is correct." Brian didn't elaborate.  
  
"Why is it they don't hate you for trying to send them to jail? Isn't it sort of strange they've forgiven you so quickly for trying to put them away?" Bilkins was determined to trip Brian up.  
  
"I would speculate that the reason is because I didn't find anything. There was nothing to find and so I didn't end up sending them to jail. Dominic Toretto and I have become real life friends. I saved the life of his best friend Vincent Casaletto and that man's girlfriend Nyssa Williams by being a cop and I also chased down the person who tried to murder another friend and team mate Jesse Ames. I was investigating them and trying to send them to jail, that is true, and I did my job. You told me if I had to blow my cover to do so. I just did what I had to do. If they hadn't hijacked any trucks by then they weren't going to. So to answer your question, it's not strange that they forgave me and accepted me, but it is very nice of them. I love Mia Toretto. Maybe it was wrong of me to fall for her while under cover, but I did and I can't take it back. However I found no evidence to connect either her or the rest of the Toretto team to the truck hijackings." Brian was doing ok. He was still alright. He hated to do this to Tanner but he refused to let the team down. To let Mia down. He knew it would kill her if she lost Dom to jail again.  
  
"While we're around the subject, let's discuss why you shot and killed Johnny Tran." Tanner asked.  
  
"What would you like to know?" Brian asked.  
  
"The whole story." Bilkins growled out.  
  
"As I have previously stated Jesse raced Johnny for pink slips and lost. There were already bad feelings between the Toretto's and Tran's from something that happened some time ago. Jesse is high strung and it wasn't his car to bet, it was his dad's so when he lost he took off rather then surrender the vehicle. Tran took off after him. The team went to find Jesse but so did Johnny. Johnny if you will remember is the individual who wrecked my first vehicle. He was always armed and dangerous. Just as we were going to go search for Jesse some more he pulled up to the Toretto residence. Soon after Tran and his cousin sped by on motor bikes and shot up the Toretto house, and hit Jesse three times as well. I gave chase, they both refused to pull over and surrender and tried to run me off the road, spraying a residential neighbourhood with bullets. Since they wouldn't stop and were putting so many civilians at risk I had to stop them. I took aim and shot Johnny Tran to prevent any innocent civilians from being hurt or killed in the crossfire. Johnny was unfortunately fatally wounded by that action, but many lives could have been lost if he was allowed to continue shooting his automatic weapon."  
  
"How is it that Toretto came you have your supra and you came to destroy his charger?" Bilkins asked, still hoping to slip Brian up.  
  
"I was being blocked in by Dom's charger when Tran shot up the house. I didn't want Dom to do anything foolish, I knew if he went after Johnny he could end up in trouble with the law, no matter how good his reason. I didn't know that Dom had keys to the supra. So after I took off in his car he took off in mine."  
  
Neither Tanner or Bilkins could think of anything else to say to Brian or to ask him so they let him go. They told him it could be a few more days while everyone concerned reviewed his testimony and then they'd make a decision on what to do with Brian. Brian thanked them and left. He went home, changed into his own clothes, it was funny to him how he didn't think of the uniform as his own clothes anymore and then found the note from the team in the kitchen. After reading it he too headed to the hospital. He was very pleased with how his deposition had gone and he couldn't wait to tell the team that everything should be fine. 


	44. The future is waiting

Chapter 44 -The future is waiting.  
  
Brian drove down to the hospital with the windows down and the stereo of the Supra cranked. He was singing along to the song that was playing on the radio. He felt more free then he had in a long time. A great girl with a great family and a great bunch of friends were waiting for him there. His future was waiting for him there. The police force wasn't his future and he saw that now. And it was both scary, in that he'd always wanted to be a cop, he'd never wanted to be anything else, and liberating in that he felt his future was tied to Mia and Dom more then he'd ever felt it tied to the police force.  
  
Not that he'd quit yet. But he planned on it. He knew Bilkins and Tanner didn't believe his story. He also knew they couldn't prove it was a lie. It had been too well planned. Too well executed. Nyssa's uncle was one scary dude, Brian thought, to have been able to make the civics disappear, Vince's car end up where it needed to be and Brian had a feeling that the fact that the trucker never came forward might be tied to Nyssa's uncle and the connections he had.  
  
If Brian was right, and he thought he was, the truck had been hauling already stolen merchandise for some form of organized crime and therefore the trucker couldn't come forward. The only way things would ever backfire now was if they were wrong and the trucker did come forward. Brian couldn't see that happening after all the time that had already past. He figured they were in the clear. The thought filled him with joy. He was almost free. Free to be with Mia without guilt, free to be a carefree racer, free to enjoy his new family. It had been a long time since he'd had any family.  
  
His friend Rome had been the last thing close to family he'd had and Rome hadn't been able to forgive Brian for becoming a cop. But the old pain and anger over that occurrence as fading as Brian realized that he had a new family to enjoy. He made a split decision and pulled into a store along his route. He was back on the road not a half hour later with an even bigger grin on his face. If that was possible. He whistled the whole way out to the hospital.  
  
"Man, I wonder where the hell Brian's at?" Dom asked. He was getting worried. It had been a few hours and Dom had expected him to have been done already.  
  
"I'm sure its fine Dom. They likely had a lot of questions and he had to be thorough in his answers." Nyssa said. "We rehearsed it and it's gonna be fine."  
  
"She's right Dawg, he has to answer all their questions. He'll come when he's done." Leon said, looking up from his seat beside Jesse.  
  
"It's gonna be fine." Nyssa said with a secret smile at Mia.  
  
"What?" Mia asked Nyssa. "What're you thinkin girl? It never bodes well for us when you get 'that' look on your face." Mia laughed.  
  
"Nothin. Nothin at all." Nyssa winked at Jesse who laughed.  
  
"She's just picken on you Mi." Jesse said.  
  
The door was at that point flung open and Brian burst in. He then carefully shut the door and looked around the room. He looked around with a panicked expression on his face.  
  
"We gotta go! We gotta get outta here!" Brian exclaimed. The team just looked at him in shock till Dom jumped up. Brain cracked up laughing. "You should see the looks on all your faces right now Dude." Brian couldn't stop laughing.  
  
"That's not funny Brian!" Nyssa yelled right before she jumped on Brian and started to beat him around the head.  
  
"I mean the look on all your faces." Brian was still trying not to pee himself laughing.  
  
"She's right Dawg. That's not funny." Leon looked just as pissed as Nyssa. Vince stood up.  
  
"That's not even close to funny." He advanced on Brian.  
  
"I was just jokin' guys. I meant it to be funny. Really. I didn't mean to make you all angry. I swear." Brian walked away from the advancing Vince.  
  
"Damn Bri, that wasn't funny." Mia still looked scared. Nyssa jumped off Brian's back and looked at him.  
  
"Well, I bet we did look funny while we all wondered what to do." She didn't want Vince to kill Brian. Damn, Vince had just been starting to at least respect Brian in small ways.  
  
"Come on guys, it's just like something you'd all try to pull off if you could." Jesse laughed. He'd had a feeling Brian wouldn't act the way he just had if it had been really serious.  
  
The team looked at the still stunned looks on each other's faces and cracked up. They couldn't help it.  
  
"So, how'd it really go?" Nyssa asked Brian with one eyebrow raised.  
  
"Awesome. It couldn't have gone better. I mean, they know I just told the biggest pack of bullshit that they've ever heard. But they can't prove any of it and it was obvious. They kept waiting for me to slip up but they asked the exact predictable questions we thought they would and I had rehearsed answers to everything. The lies came out so easy it was almost scary. I mean I was under oath and up till like 5 months ago I never woulda lied under oath. But I just did and I can't remember the last time I felt so...Alive."  
  
"Good to know." Dom finally recovered his voice and spoke. "Now if you ever pull a stunt like you just did again I'll kill you." Dom chuckled. "But it is just the kind of thing I might expect out of Vince or Leon."  
  
"Well, the only thing that could happen that would screw things up now is if that trucker does come forward for some reason. I don't see it happening but it could I guess." Brian clearly didn't think so by the look on his face.  
  
"Sweet." Jesse cheered. "Now if you guys could just get me outta here everything would be almost back to normal. There was a knock at the door and Vince moved to open it. He admitted the doctor.  
  
"Good news young man. You can go home on Thursday." The whole team cheered at this announcement. The doctor left the room and the whole team shared a group hug.  
  
"Now, we do need to make one thing clear." Brian began. "This kind of thing can never ever happen again. Because if it does I guarantee that they'll get us the next time. They'll never let the perpetrator get away again if it should ever occur again. It's going to be embarrassing for the FBI and the PD to admit they couldn't crack the case."  
  
"We get you Brian. Our time of doing shit like this is over." Dom answered him with a look for the rest of his team that dared them to ever get involved in anything like the trucks again.  
  
"We get it." Vince, Leon, Letty, and Jesse all answered at the same time. Brian looked at Nyssa.  
  
"What, you don't agree baby girl?" Vince asked her.  
  
"I'll never do anything like this, but I just can't speak for my dad when he gets outta jail. I mean, he was never into shit like this anyway but he is into illegal shit and I don't know if he plans on stopping or not. And I won't disown my own dad for being a criminal. I don't really care for one thing but he'd still be my dad if I did."  
  
"Well as long as you don't run out and get caught breaking the law with him it's all good anyway Nyssa. I just meant the team can't ever be involved in illegal shit again because I mean, they know we did it." Nyssa noticed that despite the fact Brian had really only been around to prove the team broke the law he now included himself in the group of people who had done so. Brian was in for life. "They just can't prove it. So if, say, Leon got caught robbing a liquor store, he's goin to jail for the max time they can give him. No matter what the crime they're gonna make sure that the full extent of the punishment they can give is given to any of this team who gets caught doing anything."  
  
"What about racing?" Leon asked. He didn't know what they'd do if they couldn't race anymore.  
  
"Racing's just a fine man. I don't think they can throw much of a book at anyone over racing. I more or less mean felony type crimes. Misdemeanours are hard to beef up to anything more then a slap on the wrist." Brian grinned. "So as long as racing's as bad as we get it's all good."  
  
"And so when Jesse comes home and back to work then things are going to go pretty well back to normal then?" Nyssa asked hopefully.  
  
"'Cept that V'll still have his twice weekly visits for therapy." Leon said and stuck out his tongue. Vince growled at him and started Leon's way. He was still touchy about the therapy thing. He hated to have to go, but he refused to end up without the use of his arm.  
  
"Jesse'll be joining me I bet." Vince said and Jesse groaned.  
  
"Yeah but both of you have cool scars for us chicks to dig." Nyssa giggled as she pushed Vince back into his chair and settled on his lap.  
  
"Oh, chicks dig scars do they?" Vince asked her.  
  
"Oh yeah. They make a guy look so bad ass and tough. I guess if a girl isn't in to bad boys or tough guys then scars might be a turn off but most girls are into bad boys on some level, even if they'd rather not admit it." Nyssa looked up at Vince.  
  
"I don't need scars to look bad ass or tough. I just am." Vince told her.  
  
"I know, but trust me, it adds to the look." Nyssa laughed at the look on Leon's face. "And all Leon got was this lousy tee shirt." Everyone laughed at Leon.  
  
"Well, Dom's in the same club." Leon didn't want them to think he was the only one that got off without a scratch.  
  
"Dom looks bad ass enough already." Letty stuck up for her man.  
  
"Thanks." Dom said as he pulled Letty down onto his lap too. Brian pulled Mia back against his chest and rested his chin on her head. Leon looked around the room at all the happy couples and he again felt the odd feeling that he was missing something or someone at this point of his life.  
  
The two days till Thursday passed quickly as they prepared to have Jesse come home. It was going to be as big of a challenge to make him follow the doctors rules as it had been to get Nyssa to but the team was up to the challenge if it meant having Jesse come home.  
  
AN: sorry this is short and not much happened, well, other then Jess coming home but I'm thinking up just how I want to end this to have it tie in with Adrenaline the way it has to as those who are following both stories will know as Adrenaline develops. But it is over in either one more chapter or two. It remains to be seen but everything I wanted to happen has pretty much happened. Well, I'll try to update again soon. Thanks for all the support over the course of this ride. I appreciate it greatly! Peace, tempest. 


	45. She's Bonnie, I'm Clyde

Chapter 45 - She's Bonnie, I'm Clyde.  
  
AN: Here it is. The ending of the story. Sorry for the wait but this was hard to write. I hope it turned out ok and that I didn't disappoint anyone with the ending. Better go to the bathroom and get snacks now because this is 10,000 words long. It took me that long to say what I wanted to say. So again, hope everyone enjoyed the ride and don't forget that there will be more of Vince and Nyssa in Adrenaline at some point. Shameless plug for me. No need to be depressed after all, I'll still be around. ;) Feedback is wanted and encouraged. On to the story.  
  
On Thursday Dom drove to the hospital to collect Jesse. He took Leon with him but everyone else stayed home to prepare for Jesse's return. He was going to be confined to his room for the first week too. Other then when he went to physiotherapy. They timed his therapy so that he could go at the same times as Vince.  
  
"I can't wait to have Jesse home." Nyssa said as she jumped up and down in place.  
  
"Me neither." Mia answered, laughing at Nyssa's exuberance.  
  
"It'll be good to have everyone home." Letty said. Nyssa bounced up and down some more and on one particularly high bounce Vince snuck up behind her and grabbed her out of the air.  
  
"Argh." Nyssa screamed in shock. Everyone laughed as she struggled to get away till she recognized the arms around her waist.  
  
"Stop bouncing Nys. It's making me dizzy to watch you go." Vince said as he set her down.  
  
"Ok. Ok. Let's go for a drive and get all Jesse's favourite foods." Nyssa suggested. She couldn't sit still; she had to be doing something. It was still daylight and too early to go for a drive to do something that would really tire her out.  
  
"Good idea." Vince said as he walked up to the door of the house and snatched up his keys. "Ready to go now?" He asked, turning back toward her.  
  
"Yep, let's go." Nyssa followed Vince out of the house. They ran into Brian on the front walk. "What's up Brian?" Nyssa asked Brian with a smile.  
  
"Lot's. I need to call a team meeting." Brian said.  
  
"Sounds ominous. Dom'n Leon are gone to get Jesse. They should be home in about 15 minutes or so." Nyssa told Brian.  
  
"Ok. You two were off somewhere were you?"  
  
"Just to go shopping." Nyssa answered all Brian's questions. Like Vince had told them all, realizing Brian was an ok guy didn't mean that ol Coyote had to like him. Vince seemed to take a live'n let live attitude toward Brian since everything was cleared up. Or at least they hoped it was cleared up. Brian needing to call a team meeting might be a bad sign. "What we had to do can wait. Dom should be here any minute now."  
  
Just as Nyssa said that the yellow Skyline that Leon and Dom had gone to get Jesse in pulled up. Dom and Leon got out of the front seats and then Dom helped Jesse out of the back seat. They started toward the house slowly.  
  
"Good to have you home Jess." Nyssa called and waved.  
  
"Jesse. Welcome home!" Brian exclaimed. Jesse smiled.  
  
"Hey guys." Jesse couldn't stop grinning. It was good to be home.  
  
Vince went to open the door for them and they all walked back inside the house.  
  
"Guess who's home?" Dom called out and the girls came out of the kitchen.  
  
"Jesse!" Mia said as she came running up and carefully hugged Jesse.  
  
"Brian wants to talk to us as a team so lets all go hang in the living room for a few." Nyssa told them and they all did just that. Vince and Leon helped Jesse into a chair then sat down themselves. Nyssa waited till Vince sat down then crawled into his lap and started to play with his hair. They all watched Brian as he paced in front of the group.  
  
"Well." He started. "I heard from my Sergeant this morning. He still doesn't believe me. I mean he didn't tell me that they thought I was lying but I can tell he thinks I am." Brian paused. "Anyway though, he told me that they've closed the investigation into the team. They didn't find enough to do anything so they have to believe my story and let it go. So we're in the clear. Unless someone starts popping trucks again and they reopen the case that is. But even then, since it won't be us doing it we'll still be fine." The whole team cheered. "I didn't quit yet, but I will in a few weeks. They already told me my next assignment is investigating some guy using the internet. So they're making me a desk jockey and I didn't get into police work to be a desk jockey. So I'm outta there just as soon as I think I can quit and not draw attention to myself and us."  
  
"Damn, I'm sorry 'bout that Brian." Dom answered.  
  
"It's ok Dom, really. The team means more to me then that job ever did at this point. But while I have you all here in front of me there's something else I need to do." The whole team looked at Brian, wondering what he was up to.  
  
"Mia. I'm sorry for lying to you. Even though it all worked out in the end and at first I was just doing my job I'm still sorry. I know I was wrong in how I handled a lot of what went down. But I can't be sorry about how it ended up. About having you in my life. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. You mean more to me then any job." Mia smiled up at Brian happily. Brian went down on one knee in front of Mia on the couch. "I love you Mia Toretto and I would love nothing more then if you would please keep me forever and marry me." Brian took the ring out of his pocket and held it up as Mia started to cry. "Will you marry me?" Brian asked, hopeful but unsure look on his face. The rest of the team looked on. Letty and Nyssa had dreamy looks on their faces and the guys looked shocked.  
  
"Yes. Yes Brian. I love you." Mia said through her tears and Brian slid the ring onto her finger. She stood and so did Brian and they embraced then kissed. The team cheered. Then the girls hugged while the guys all slapped Brian on the back and offered congratulations. Then Brian and Mia disappeared and no one followed them.  
  
Leon and Dom helped Jesse down to his room and then Leon stayed with Jesse while Dom and Letty went down to the garage to do some work since it was clear that no one else was going to. Dom and Letty didn't get much work done anyway, as they were wont not to when they had the garage all to themselves.  
  
Vince and Nyssa went for their drive. They had to grocery shop anyway so they figured they may as well go do it and make sure to grab goodies for Jesse while they went. Vince was thinking about Brian and Mia being engaged. He thought it was still sort of unreal. He was honestly checking himself to see if he really wasn't jealous of Brian for ending up with what Vince had always tried to convince himself he wanted. And with a glance at the girl who was sitting beside him singing along to his radio he realized he had everything he just never knew he wanted sitting in his car with him already. And she made Mia look like a second place substitute.  
  
One thing he knew he was sure of was the girls were going to be jealous of Mia for having an engagement ring but Vince knew he wasn't ready for that. But he had to do something special for the girl who'd started all this in motion. The girl who'd showed him Mia wasn't where the sun rose and set. He didn't know what he could do. But it wasn't get engaged to anyone. He was just too unsure of what he wanted and he'd seen first hand in his own parents where it could get you to get married too young.  
  
Dom was having pretty parallel thoughts as he held Letty in his lap. He found himself happy for his little sister; he wanted to see her married. Mia was the type who'd always wanted the big church wedding, with all the trimmings. But he knew that now Letty would be looking at him like something was wrong with them not getting engaged. After all they'd been together for a lot of years and Mia and Brian had only known each other 6 months.  
  
But something in him rebelled at getting engaged. He didn't know why. It wasn't that he didn't love Letty because he did. He just didn't see himself as the marring type. Besides that he figured they had lots of time to worry about it. Dom had seen it around enough that people who got married young had troubles. He didn't want to get married more then once so he wanted to make sure he was ready first. He realized Letty was asleep in his lap. He got up and laid her down on the couch, covering her up and going back to work himself.  
  
Leon was sitting with Jesse.  
  
"Man, it was weird to see Brian ask Mia to marry him. Do you think they'll really get married?" Jesse asked Leon happily.  
  
"I'd say so. I mean, look at them. They're so happy together. But I don't see the attraction to picken' one girl for the rest of your life myself." Leon laughed. The smile on his face didn't quite reach his eyes though. Jesse didn't notice.  
  
"Me neither. I can't wait till I can get outta this bed. Nyssa's cousin Manda is hot and she wants to go out with me." Jesse looked so much younger then he really was while he was as excited as he was.  
  
"Well, you better not let me catch you outta this bed till the doctor tells me that it's ok." Leon turned serious for a moment.  
  
"I won't man. I don't wanna go back to the hospital." The two continued to talk about girls and what Jesse had missed while he was gone and the story of how Nyssa had planned them out of trouble. Jesse hadn't been around to hear the story and he listened to Leon's tale with rapt attention.  
  
"So Mia and Brian are getting married. Who would have thought it eh?" Nyssa said to Vince. She was trying to make him uncomfortable and she figured it was working when he glanced at her then quickly looked back at the road.  
  
"It's nice for her and Brian I guess." Vince mumbled, not wanting to get into this conversation, thinking it was heading toward her asking him when he was asking her.  
  
"Yeah, it's nice for any girl." Vince turned green. Nyssa laughed. "You should see the look on your face. I don't know if I should be amused you find this so scary or hurt that you clearly don't want to marry me."  
  
"I.It's just.Well.I.I don't want to marry anyone just yet and we haven't known each other that long." Oh man, she was going to be pissed, Vince thought. That hadn't come out the way he'd planned at all. She was going to think he was telling her he didn't take 'them' seriously.  
  
"It's ok V. I was just tormenting you. I don't want to get married either. I'm still young and I'm livin my life. I don't wanna get stuck taken care of and cleaning up behind some guy for the next 50 years or more. You can chill." She laughed. She knew he was terrified of commitment, but he'd come a long way and she wasn't complaining. "I bet you wanted to crawl away and hide when Brian asked Mia. You'n Dom both. I can just imagine you'n Dom thinking 'oh shit' the whole time he was askin' her." The 'busted' look was on Vince's face but he denied it.  
  
"Naw, but I bet Dom was just like you say. After all, he's been with Letty for like 5 years now and I guess she has a right to be pissed off that her best friend got a proposal after 6 months and 5 years later I bet her and Dom have never even talked about it." Vince found himself perversely getting mad that Nyssa didn't want to marry him. What was wrong with him?  
  
He knew she was young, but still, he thought they had a good relationship. Why wouldn't she want to marry him if he wanted to ask her? Was she hoping someone better would come along? Like she read his mind or at least saw the strange look on his face she asked him.  
  
"What's wrong wit you?"  
  
"Nothin'."  
  
"No way is that look nothin'." She replied, and then realized they'd had this conversation before and it hadn't ended well.  
  
"Yes it is." He snapped back at her.  
  
"No it's not but if you don't want to talk about it just say so." She told him then added "ya big baby." Under her breath. He heard her.  
  
"I'm not a baby. It's nothin'."  
  
"Whatever you say." She looked out her window rather then at him, upset that he still didn't trust her enough to talk to her about things that bothered him. Vince sensed her pulling away from him into herself. He hated when she did that. It was like pulling teeth without pain killers to get her talking again. She held grudges. He'd found that out the hard way, sleeping in his empty bed for a week with no idea where she'd gone off to. They got to the store and she moved to throw the car door open to escape away from him. He'd really gone and done it now.  
  
"Listen to me." He said and she stopped her headlong flight out of the car with a very loud slam of the door as she pulled it closed again and stared mutinously out the windshield at the cart coral. Vince winced on behalf of his poor car and looked at Nyssa. She refused to look at him. Vince grabbed her chin and turned her face toward his, to look into her eyes. He was ashamed to see them dark purple with her anger and upset not the glittering violet they'd been when Jesse had come home. He knew that he'd upset her. "It's nothing. For real. Just something that bothered me for a minute. It wasn't worth you worrying over and it doesn't matter. It was just a momentary thing. Ok? Don't go off all mad at me." He was still bothered by her attitude toward marrying him but he figured that it was his problem not hers and he shouldn't worry her over it. After all he'd told her he didn't want to get married just before she admitted the same thing. He figured that he'd just figured that Nyssa would want to get married just like any other girl and to find out she didn't had been a shock. He leaned over and kissed her. She didn't kiss him back very enthusiastically. He might not want to get married but he still knew he wanted her. "Truce?"  
  
"Sure." He knew her answer wasn't sincere but at least she was speaking to him.  
  
She'd had a good idea why he was mad at her anyway; she just hadn't really wanted to go into it in case it came out that she would really like nothing more then to be engaged to Vince, too young or not. She knew it would terrify him right into another round of acting like an asshole. She just hadn't expected him to turn around and get mad at her for telling him just want he wanted to hear. And they said women were perverse. Vince got out of the car and waited for her to do the same. They walked into the store and did their shopping.  
  
Truce or no truce Vince knew that if Nyssa wasn't pissed off at him she still wasn't overly pleased with him either but he didn't know how to fix that. Then it hit him. He needed to see Dom. The thought he had had put him in a better mood and it seemed to rub off on Nyssa. She wasn't quite as exuberant as she had been before their little fight in the car, but she was happier. They headed home. Nyssa went off to help Mia cook and Letty 'helped' them too as much as the other girls would let her. No one wanted to eat Letty's cooking.  
  
After supper Vince cornered Dom in the living room while the girls were all still in the kitchen.  
  
"We need to talk Brotha." He started. Dom looked at him.  
  
"What's on your mind V?"  
  
"We need to take the girls on that trip you promised Letty."  
  
"That's a great idea. How's it you came up with it?" Dom grinned at his friend.  
  
"Well, I just wanna do something nice for Nyssa. You're the one who's gonna be in hot water over Mia and Brian getting engaged before you'n Letty. I think we all have some makin' up to do."  
  
"You're right." Dom answered with a sigh. "And I bet you didn't get off too light either. But we can't go till Jesse's well enough to travel."  
  
"Agreed. But keep it in mind." Vince thought for a second. "And don't tell anyone else. We should surprise them all with it when it's all planned and ready to go."  
  
"Good idea." Dom answered, then the ladies came back into the room and they stopped talking with a glance at each other.  
  
They put in a movie and let Jesse stay upstairs lying on the couch so he could be with the team. Vince sat in the big chair he always sat in but rather then sit on him Nyssa sat on the floor with Letty. Vince did a double take. He couldn't remember the last time Nyssa hadn't sat in his lap for movies. She always did. But there she was sitting on the floor with Letty laughing at something the other girl had said. Then she leaned over and whispered in Letty's ear.  
  
"Wanna blow 'Super happy fun family movie night' off and take one of our cars downtown and play find the ricer? Then maybe hit a club? I hear that new place Nitrous is a cool club that racers go to."  
  
"It's like you're readin' my mind." Letty grinned back at Nyssa.  
  
"Kay, go get ready and I'll meet you down here in about 20 minutes ok?"  
  
"Sounds good." They both got up. Nyssa turned back to the room. "We are going for a drive and will be back later." With that she headed downstairs.  
  
Vince had an intense look of shock on his face. Not only had Nyssa decided not to sit with him she was taking off instead of spending time with the team. With Jesse. Who'd just gotten home. Vince stood up and went down the stairs to find Nyssa standing in her underwear in front of the open closet with an intense look of concentration on her face. Since when did anyone need to change clothes to go for a drive?  
  
"Why you runnin out on the team girl?"  
  
"I'm not runnin out on the team Vince. I'm going for a drive with a friend and fellow team mate. I don't consider that runnin anywhere."  
  
"We were going to watch the movie as a team. Now you and Letty are taken off. That's not a team activity then. Besides that you should stay home and spend time with Jesse. He just got back."  
  
"I'll spend the day with him tomorrow. Jesse'll be fine and I just don't feel like staying home tonight." She turned her back on him and reached in the closet for a black leather skirt and slid it on. Then she started flipping through her shirts, all the while mentally flipping Vince off for trying to make her feel guilty for going out instead of playing Mary Sunshine with the team while watching movies.  
  
"Where you goin for a drive that you need to get all dressed up?" Vince smelled something fishier then Mia's awful tuna in this whole situation. Nyssa spun on him.  
  
"I am going for a drive with my friend Letty. I am not yet sure where we are going. I expect to be home around 1am and I will call for a drive home if I need one, but I also have money for a cab should we need one. I'll try to remember not to talk to strangers. Is that ok Daddy?" She asked him in a tone of voice that showcased just how annoyed she was getting. Vince threw up his hands in surrender.  
  
"Fine. Go. I'll see you later." He turned to leave the room.  
  
"Only if I don't see you first." She mumbled with a mutinous glare then stuck her tongue out at his retreating back. "Like I wasn't going to if you still had a problem with it anyway." She realized she was talking to herself, pulled out a shear red singlet with 'bitch' on it in silver glitter thinking how appropriate it was, pulled it on, took the tie out of her hair and then pulled on her knee high 'hooker' boots and headed to the bathroom. She did her makeup heavy for her and sprayed on her favourite perfume. Then she headed up the stairs and found Letty wearing much the same outfit but with a blue top. Nyssa grinned. It was on. Let the games begin.  
  
"You ready?" Letty asked her with a slightly worried look for her friend. Letty could tell something wasn't right. She figured that Nyssa and Vince had fought again and that never boded well for Nyssa's frame of mind for the next few days. Letty wasn't overly impressed with Dom either but since that was a common occurrence in her world she was a little better at dealing with it then Nyssa.  
  
"I'm so ready. Let's roll." Nyssa said and picked up her keys, tucking them into her pocket. They walked out into the humid night air. "So, American Nissan or Japanese Nissan?" Nyssa asked.  
  
"You up to driving?" Letty asked her.  
  
"Of course. But we can take turns no matter who's car we take."  
  
"You'd let me drive your car?" Letty asked, stunned.  
  
"Yeah, why would you think I wouldn't?" Nyssa knew Letty was the better racer. Letty'd been doing it longer and she was just better at it. Nyssa knew she was good, but Letty could rival Dom, and that made her a rival for the best of the best.  
  
"Because it's one hell of a car." Letty was shocked that Nyssa would share her car with anyone, except for Vince of course.  
  
"Letty, you taught me to race it. I'll let you drive it. I'd trust you with my car before any of the guys and since you've seen V drive it you must know I trust you with it. Besides you're the best. I'd love to see how bad you can smoke people in this car after seeing how bad you can smoke them in your 240. Let's go. You can drive it downtown and take the first race if you want to."  
  
"It's on." Letty shouted with a grin and they climbed into the Skyline. She was going to get to drive a skyline. The night just got a hell of a lot better. Letty fired it up and did a few practise shifts in the driveway to try and get the feel of shifting with her left hand and clutching with her right foot. It was strange but she was pretty sure she was going to pick it up fast.  
  
"They're takin the Skyline, and Nyssa is letting Letty drive." Leon stated from his vantage point in front of the window.  
  
"Nyssa is letting Letty drive her Skyline?" Dom asked from the chair he was sitting in and as soon as the question left his mouth they heard an ear- splitting squeal. "I guess she just answered my question." Dom said and chuckled. He was sort of miffed that Letty blew them off too, but he hadn't been in the mood to have a knock down drag out fight with her about it which is what would have happened if he'd said anything to her.  
  
Vince looked irate. More irate then they'd seen him in recent history. Maybe even more so then when Leon had helped Nyssa break out of the house and get down to the hospital. He was sitting in his chair staring into space with a look on his face that just spelled out anger.  
  
"What's wrong Vince?" Dom asked.  
  
"I just can't believe the girls took off like this. What'd we do?"  
  
"We didn't do anything. They just wanted to go for a drive." Dom answered him.  
  
"You keep tellin' yourself that Brotha, but you're wrong. Nyssa as much as told me off downstairs and you know that if Nyssa's that mad and Letty took off with her then Letty's mad too. It's like they're one girl with two bodies when they get pissed at us." Vince said with a look at Dom.  
  
"Letty didn't act mad at me today. But she sure just left the driveway like she was mad at me." Dom looked confused now that he started to think about it. Letty had acted like she was pissed but she hadn't told him or fought with him about anything. Letty never kept anger to herself. She always fought it out with him.  
  
"I'm tellin' ya Dom, when that girl gets home the fight we're gonna have is gonna wake the house, so don't be too pissed at me guys. I need to get to the bottom of this."  
  
"What's that gonna solve Vince?" Leon asked him. Nyssa had clearly showed Vince what happened when they fought time and time again and Leon didn't see where having a big fight was going to help Vince out with his girl.  
  
"I just figure if we fight it out we can put it behind us." Vince answered with a small frown.  
  
"I hope so Dawg." Leon's look clearly said that he didn't see the sense in it yet. They went back to watching the movie, and for the most part Vince put it out of his mind and enjoyed the movie.  
  
"Damn girl, you learn fast." Nyssa said to Letty as they tore away from the house.  
  
"I've always wanted to drive a Skyline but Leon isn't big on sharing his." Letty laughed.  
  
"Yeah well Leon can kiss our asses. This car is way better then his." Nyssa said.  
  
"What do you have against Leon all of a sudden?" Letty asked with a puzzled look.  
  
"He has a penis. He is therefore the enemy at this point of the evening. I have nothing against him personally." Nyssa stated. Letty laughed.  
  
"So this is an anti man night is it?"  
  
"Why the hell do you think I didn't ask Mia? She'd be so full of 'Brian's a god.' It would make me sick." Nyssa pretended to stick her finger down her throat.  
  
"Yeah, well she's entitled. Bitch." But Letty laughed when she said it and Nyssa knew she wasn't really trying to insult Mia.  
  
"Yeah. Lucky Bitch." Nyssa giggled.  
  
"You're not entitled to be pissed girl. You've only known Vince for 6 months. I've been with Dom for 5 years now and he's never even mentioned getting married."  
  
"Yeah, well Mia met Brian right at the same time that I met Vince so there you go. And it's not that I want to get married anyway. It's this attitude that Vince seems to have that getting married to me would be a fate worst then death. I mean damn. I got lots of time to get married. I mean I love Vince but who says he's the one? I guess it was really just his attitude about the whole thing. He made it seem like getting his teeth pulled out would be more fun."  
  
"Girl." Letty shook her head. "Vince is the one. Don't delude yourself. I'm not much older then you remember? And I'd still be thrilled if Dom asked me to marry him. It's not about age, it's about knowing you want to spend the rest of your life with the person your with. You tellin' me you have doubts that you want to spend the rest of your life with Vince?"  
  
"No, I'm not. But he clearly has doubts about me and I can't let on I don't have any about him or he'll just get scared I'm trying to trap him into something. But then when I told him I didn't want to get married so young anyway he got mad at me. Oh, he wouldn't admit to it but I could tell. He was pissed off at me like I was saying he wasn't good enough for me to marry but then when he basically told me the same thing I was supposed to just take it and pretend to like it."  
  
"So now the truth comes out." Letty laughed. "Let's race. That's what you need. Racing and drinking in that order."  
  
"Let's run this beautiful car then." Nyssa laughed and they pointed the car for downtown LA. It didn't take them long to find someone who wanted to go. They pulled up to a light that had just gone red and a nanosecond later a kid in a tricked out Toyota MR-2 pulled up beside them.  
  
"Hey baby!" The girls didn't look as the guys in the other car called out. "Come on you pretty little Chicas. How's it goin? You wanna pull over and let a real man show you how to drive a car like that?"  
  
"You wanna go?" Letty asked with a sneer.  
  
"I'll race you for a chance to see you two in the back seat!" Nyssa and Letty shared a look. Letty knew the answer.  
  
"You want ass in the back seat hit Hollywood boulevard. You want to be schooled on how to race your car it'll cost ya 2 large." Letty held up her money. "What's it gonna be?"  
  
"It's on baby." The other driver held up his money. They both looked straight forward while Nyssa set the stereo to pounding out "What means the world" by Ludacris and Trina.  
  
What means the world to me? Breakin' law's. Racin' cars.  
  
It was their world and the punk beside them was in for an important lesson about underestimating girls in general and certainly girls in Skylines. The punk was laughing with his friends; they thought they had this one in the bag. Nyssa and Letty shared a smug look as the light went green.  
  
Both cars broke in unison. They cleared the intersection before the cars coming the other way had even noticed the light was green.  
  
In this game two years boo, look at all the bullshit I've been through!  
  
It was like Letty put all her frustration of Dom not letting her race at the warehouse into this one race against some punk kid downtown. The look of concentration on her face was intense. Her shifts were careful and tight yet violent. She was flying and she ran the car to the upper limit of the redline every time, every shift. They lost the punk behind them after about 6 seconds. Letty pulled into a parking lot and the punk pulled in too.  
  
"Where's my money Chumpy?" Letty asked the kid as he came up to her window.  
  
"How bout you ladies give me a consolation prize?" The kid asked, trying to be slick.  
  
"How bout you." Letty started to tell him off.  
  
"I got this Let." Nyssa stood up out of the car. She walked around the hood and up to the kid. She made like she was going to kiss him and then grabbed his 'package'. "You do not know who you are fucking with. That's Dominic Toretto's girl and I'm Vince's girl. Now give my friend Letty her money." Nyssa licked her lips and let go of the poor kid. He handed Letty the money.  
  
"Sorry." He croaked out. "You're good." With that he and his friends got back into their car and took off. Letty cracked up.  
  
"He thought he was gonna get some then you grabbed his bolas. ¡Pensé que él iba a cagar sí mismo cuando usted le dijo que éramos!" Letty slipped into Spanish then broke down she was laughing so hard. Nyssa was doubled over laughing. She and Letty switched up and Nyssa went looking for someone to race. She found another punk in a Nissan Maxima.  
  
"Poetic Justice." Nyssa laughed and Letty joined her.  
  
"Chica! You should find a man to drive you. You belong in the back." The kids laughed.  
  
"Look who's talking. You're driving a pussy car!" Nyssa fired back. "I think since you drive a pussy car you should act like you have one. You belong in my back seat!"  
  
"Ooohhhh!" Letty laughed.  
  
"I'll show you bitch!" The kid answered back. His friends were laughing at him for getting into a verbal war and losing with a girl.  
  
And I need my bread up front playboy, cause I can't trust ya  
  
"Showin' me'll cost ya 2 g's. You have it?" Nyssa sneered.  
  
"I have it." The owner of the Maxima held up his money roll and Nyssa did the same. They sat and waited for the light to go green.  
  
I'm way way worse than them hustlin niggaz  
  
"Show him how it goes Nys." Letty told her.  
  
"Oh, I got this guy Let."  
  
"I bet you do." Letty said with a glance at the red Maxima and the ironically scruffy guy driving it.  
  
The light went green and Nyssa took off like a shot. Scenery was a blur. It was just schooling the ricers but Nyssa was taking it very seriously. This time it was personal. Letty was almost nervous just because of the intense look of concentration on Nyssa's face. Letty looked down and saw they were going 130 on city streets. It was like Nyssa realized that she'd won long ago and she pulled into a store.  
  
Maxima guy caught up and just paid her with a nasty look for her. The girls heard his friends giving him hell as he opened his door to get back into his ride. They raced a few more random punks and always won before they pulled up to a red light beside a car load of chicks in a 2+2 Nissan 240sx. Letty was behind the wheel.  
  
"I know we said we was done for the night but can I go wit them. Please?" Letty begged prettily.  
  
The girl driving the 240sx revved her engine loudly with a glance at Letty.  
  
"Smoke her." Nyssa answered.  
  
Letty revved up the Skyline with a sneer at the girl in the other car. The other girl rolled down her window.  
  
"You wanna go?" The driver of the 240sx had a very upper class, arrogant accent.  
  
"Sure. The real question is do you really want to?" Letty laughed back.  
  
"If you make it interesting. Say we go for 4 grand. First one to the set of lights a ¼ mile from here takes the whole 4 g's."  
  
"It's on." Letty answered her and adjusted her seat in the car. She revved the car again. The light went green. Letty hit second before she ever left the intersection she was accelerating so fast. The other girl was doing alright for keeping up with them at that point.  
  
Letty hit third and the 240sx was still keeping up with them. "What the fuck?" Letty said out loud. She'd expected to have lapped the other girl by now. They were over half way done of the stretch of road they'd picked. Letty floored the car and it shot forward.  
  
It took a second but then the 240sx was right on her bumper. Letty hit fourth and kept the pedal to the floor. She gained some ground but clearly not as much as she would have liked because she swore again.  
  
"It's ok Let, you're still ahead of her." Nyssa tried to reassure her friend.  
  
"Yeah, but she shouldn't be keeping up with me like this." Letty ground out as she threw the car into 5th. She'd gained half a car length on the other car. The lights were right ahead of them when the 240sx pulled up beside them again.  
  
"No fuckin' way!" Letty yelled. She wasn't letting some snotty rich bitch beat her while driving the same car as Letty herself owned. Letty knew there was no way that the 240 could keep up with her if she used NOS but it was incredibly dangerous to use it in the downtown core when the street wasn't blocked off by other racers. But Letty didn't see how else to win and she wasn't losing. She thumbed the NOS button uncertainly.  
  
"Do it Let. We ain't losing to this chick. GO!" Nyssa told her friend, putting absolute faith in Letty's ability to control the car and keep them safe. Letty took a deep breath and pushed NOS 1 dumping a hundred shot of NOS into the already straining engine. The car shot forward and through the intersection two car lengths ahead of the girls in the 240sx. Letty again pulled into a store along the road and the girls pulled in. Letty and Nyssa got out of the car and walked up to the other group of girls.  
  
"Where's my money?" Letty asked with a growl.  
  
"What money?" The blonde who'd been driving asked.  
  
"You owe me the 4000 that your stupid ass lost when you decided you wanted to race me. So hand it over or hand over the slip to your car." Letty was getting pissed off.  
  
"You cheated." The blonde stated.  
  
"Do you know who you're fuckin' with?" Nyssa asked the other girl.  
  
"No one much." The blonde answered.  
  
"Let's beat these buffy's down so we can head to the club girl." Letty said with a glace at the blonde and her friends.  
  
"Let's give 'em one more chance to pay us first." Nyssa said with a snide look at the blonde girl. "You say we're no one much. You race often? Does your man?"  
  
"I race and so does my man." The other girl quipped back.  
  
"Well, you cheat Dominic Toretto's girlfriend outta the prize you put up in a race you lost fair and square and you see how often you or your man ever get to race again." Nyssa smiled but it didn't reach her eyes and it was clear the meaning behind it.  
  
"You're Dominic Toretto's girlfriend?" The blonde asked Nyssa disbelievingly.  
  
"Nope. She is." Nyssa answered with a head gesture at Letty. "We were just driving my car. Now pay up." Nyssa held out her hand. The other girl knew when she was backed into a corner and handed over the money then she and her friends got back into their 240sx and left in a cloud of burnt rubber and dust.  
  
"Yes!" Letty yelled and she and Nyssa high fived. "You scared the shit out of two people tonight. I don't know what's gotten into you but I like it." Letty grinned at Nyssa.  
  
"I like it too. Feels so liberating." Nyssa laughed. "Wanna sneak the car home and then we can both go get shit faced?"  
  
"I like how your mind works." Letty took Nyssa's hand and they both walked over to the Skyline and laughingly got in. They drove back to Dom's as quiet as they could. They got out and Nyssa armed the security system with the code that made it not chirp. The two girls, giggling like children ran off down the street and called a cab to come get them. They were young, pretty, and filthy rich thanks to their earlier activity. And the night was young.  
  
Vince got up for another beer and happened to look out the window on his way by. He saw Nyssa's car parked out front.  
  
"When did the girls get back?" He asked the room in general.  
  
"They didn't." Dom answered.  
  
"Why is Nyssa's car home then?" Vince asked.  
  
"I don't know. Is Letty's still home?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Then I don't know what they're up to but it can't be good." Dom answered.  
  
"No it can't." Vince stated then muttered. "And she is so in for it when she gets home."  
  
"I can't believe we blew off the team like this." Nyssa laughed as she and Letty piled into the back seat of a cab.  
  
"Nitrous." Letty told the cabbie then turned to Nyssa. "It's fun though isn't it? To just be two girls out to have a good time. No team, no guys, no doing what Dom and Vince want or expect us to do."  
  
"It's liberating." Nyssa told Letty again and they laughed. They arrived at the club and hopped out of the cab. As they walked up and saw the line up they groaned. It was only 11 and the place was already lined up. As they walked up to the club the bouncer recognized Letty.  
  
"Letty Rodregez! How you livin? Who's your friend?" The large man at the door asked.  
  
"I'm livin great since I just won about 8 grand downtown and this is my friend Nyssa. So you gonna make me wait in that line?" Letty smiled up at the bouncer.  
  
"Make the queen of racing wait in line? How would that be smart?" The door was opened to them as if by magic and the girls walked in to a chorus of groans from the people who'd been waiting in line for hours.  
  
"Whoa." Nyssa breathed out as they walked in and the atmosphere washed over her. The dance floor was made of clear panels that had neon lights under them, making the floor light up in a rainbow neon checkerboard. The walls were black with various car part supplier logos on them, much in the same way as racers put the logo's on their cars. The tables around the room perimeter were shaped like various import car logos.  
  
The girls laughingly sat at the one shaped like a GT-R logo and ordered tequila shots off the passing waitress.  
  
"GT-R came through for us tonight huh?" Nyssa asked.  
  
"For real." Letty shouted over the pounding music. Their drinks came back and Letty picked up the first round. "To the GT-R" They downed a shot each.  
  
"I wanna do one." Nyssa said.  
  
"Go for it." Letty told her.  
  
"To my brother." Letty looked at Nyssa with a puzzled expression. "For building the car and for leaving it to me and for teaching me to love cars."  
  
"To your brother." Letty replied and they downed a shot.  
  
"To us!" Letty yelled and they each did yet another shot. "Let's go dance!" Letty yelled and they headed out onto the floor. The music was pounding. They alternated rap and hip hop with trance music. Letty and Nyssa were just moving to the music dancing to song after song. They had a great time and got very drunk yet again. They stumbled out of the club and into the night air.  
  
"We need a cab." Nyssa slurred.  
  
"No kiddin. We have no car." Letty answered back but it wasn't the clearest thing she'd ever said.  
  
"We couldn't drive it if we did." Nyssa laughed and pushed Letty's shoulder. "You're drunk."  
  
"So're you." Letty laughed back.  
  
"Are not." Nyssa stated then almost fell over.  
  
"We could call Dom for a drive." Letty stated then the two girls shared a look and cracked up.  
  
"Like he'd come." Nyssa laughed.  
  
"Oh, he'd come. Just so he could kick my ass for goin' out without him and for racing on the streets in the middle of traffic. How'm I gonna explain where this money came from?"  
  
"Don't. Why does he need to know? I'm not telling Vince. I'll hide it in the car."  
  
"You're evil."  
  
"I learned from the best. So how we getting home?" They both spotted Edwin at the same time.  
  
"Edwin!" They called out.  
  
"Hey girls. How's it goin."  
  
"It's goin very good." Nyssa told him.  
  
"I'll bet." Edwin laughed at the matching very drunk looks on the two dark beauties before him. "You need a ride home?"  
  
"We'd love one." Nyssa answered. They got into Edwin's car and they drove to Dom's house.  
  
"There you go ladies. Have a good one." Edwin let them off and left quietly, almost like he knew they were trying to be quiet.  
  
"We need to go to bed. I vote we both sleep in your bed." Nyssa said in a stage whisper as they walked up to the house and Letty worked on getting the front door open.  
  
"Good idea. Neither of our guys are gonna be pleased about us."  
  
"True dat." Nyssa answered. Letty nodded. It wasn't going well. Letty dropped the key.  
  
"Ah shit." They giggled while Letty looked for the key. Nyssa found it and then she tried to get the door open. The key finally slid in and the tumbler clicked over. The walked in slowly, in exaggerated motions, trying to be quiet. As they started up the stairs Letty tripped into Nyssa and they fell up the stairs, Letty on top of Nyssa and they both giggled while trying not to roar in laughter.  
  
"Shush. Be quiet." Nyssa giggled out in an exaggerated whisper.  
  
"I'm trying." Letty whispered back.  
  
"We need to get to bed before we wake everyone up." Nyssa answered her.  
  
"For real." Letty stood up and they made it to her room without further incident. Both girls changed into Letty's shorts and singlets from her drawers and went to bed.  
  
"Did Letty ever come to bed last night?" Vince asked Dom at the breakfast table.  
  
"Nope. Did you ever see Nyssa?"  
  
"Nope. I'm getting worried though." Vince answered truthfully.  
  
"It's not like them to just not come home." Leon interjected.  
  
Just then a sleepy eyed Nyssa wandered into the kitchen, Letty's shorts low on her hips and one strap of her singlet off her shoulder. She ignored the guys and headed straight for two glasses of water and some aspirin. The aspirin was for Letty, who was sick as a dog.  
  
"Where the hell were you last night?" Vince asked Nyssa.  
  
"Out." She replied and started out of the kitchen sipping her water.  
  
"I wanna talk to you." Vince called out as he watched her retreating form.  
  
"Later." She called back. Vince and Dom shared a look.  
  
Nyssa walked up the stairs and into Letty's room. "You really don't look good Letty." Nyssa told her friend as she walked in and sat on the edge of the bed beside her.  
  
"I hate you the morning after we drink." Letty croaked out.  
  
"I know you do sweetie. Here, drink this water and take the aspirin." Nyssa helped Letty drink the water and swallow the pills. "I think you'd do well to go back to sleep if you can Let."  
  
"I'm gonna try. Will you be ok?" Letty knew Vince was going to be pissed off with Nyssa.  
  
"I'll be fine." Nyssa stood up. She walked out of the room, closing the door behind her and then ran into something hard. She looked up and up and then into Dom's slightly peeved face.  
  
"How're you?" Dom asked in a deceptively calm voice. Nyssa could feel a lecture about taking off with no one knowing where you were coming on.  
  
"I'm great but still tired out. I'm gonna go back to bed I think." Nyssa moved to go around Dom.  
  
"What's with Letty?" Dom decided since Nyssa was going to get enough of a lecture from Vince he didn't need to give her one.  
  
"Hung over. Badly. I'd let her sleep and yell at her later." Nyssa replied as she headed down the stairs. Dom chuckled at how well Nyssa knew him and decided to do just as she said. He didn't want to have a huge fight with Letty and he knew if he tried to talk to her about anything while she felt so terrible it would go even worse then he thought possible.  
  
Nyssa went downstairs and into her room. She decided she did want more sleep and got into the bed. The cool sheets felt good and she was soon back asleep. Vince went looking for Nyssa and couldn't find her again. He decided to check his room and there she was, sound asleep again. He was so mad he couldn't wait to talk to her any longer. He walked up to the side of the bed she was asleep on and shook her shoulder.  
  
"Wake up."  
  
"Wha?" She asked sleepily.  
  
"I want to talk to you."  
  
"Can you come talk to me later after I get about 3 more hours of sleep? I got home late last night."  
  
"That's part of the conversation we need to have." Vince growled. "No one knew where you were."  
  
"I was out. I told you that." Nyssa groaned out. She'd really wanted to sleep.  
  
"You didn't tell me that you'd be gone all night."  
  
"I didn't know at the time I would be. Letty and I decided to go out." Nyssa sat up in bed.  
  
"Why didn't you guys come in and tell us you were going out when you dropped your car off?"  
  
"We just didn't. God Vince. Is there a point to this?" Nyssa asked then yawned.  
  
"Yes. I worried about you." He looked sincere but angry. The anger about the events of the previous day left Nyssa when she realized he was genuinely worried about her.  
  
"I'm sorry. I had a bad day yesterday and happy family movie night didn't have much appeal. Letty and I had to blow off some steam so we did. I'm sorry you worried." She held her arms open to him.  
  
Vince thought about it for a second and figured that they'd both done and said some stuff yesterday that could be taken as hurtful. He leaned down and picked her up into a big hug.  
  
"You still wanna go back to bed?" Vince asked with a sly grin.  
  
"I thought you'd never ask." Nyssa laughed back.  
  
Three weeks passed. Things went back to normal for the team. Well, as normal as things had ever been for them. They worked in the garage and ran the store and went to races on Saturday nights and any other nights that the word went out racing would happen.  
  
Dom and Letty fought and made up several times a week but that was nothing less then normal for them anyway.  
  
Jesse and Vince went to their therapy. Vince finished a week after Jesse came home but he still took Jesse to every appointment anyway. At the end of the three weeks Jesse was cleared to go back to his normal routine. He wasn't as good as new but he was well on the way and the doctors said the only thing that would help him get even better was time.  
  
Dom and Vince planned their surprise trip to Mexico. The girls had given up on ever getting to go. They didn't even talk to the guys about it, just each other. One day Letty, Nyssa, and Mia came home from shopping to find the rest of the guys in the living room waiting.  
  
"What's up guys?" Nyssa asked.  
  
"Dom'n Vince say they need to talk to us." Leon answered her. The girls filed into the room and pulled up seats while Dom and Vince stood up in front of them. Dom reached into his back pocket as did Vince. They both threw papers onto the table.  
  
"Well, go ahead an look baby girl. I know you wanna." Vince said to Nyssa with a smile. She pounced on the papers. Then she squealed.  
  
"They're taken us to Mexico." She shouted and Letty and Mia's jaw's dropped open.  
  
"No shit!" Letty yelled as she looked over the literature on the table. She jumped up at the same time as Nyssa and they both grabbed their respective men in huge hugs. They were set to leave in a weeks time.  
  
Their time in Mexico was like some sort of unreal fairy tale to the girls. They did nothing but eat too much, drive too fast and bake in the sun. Nyssa and Letty were matching shades of dark brown. Even the guys picked up more color from spending so much time on the beach.  
  
Nyssa and Vince had taken to going for late night walks along the beach then sitting together in the sand. Nyssa loved every minute of it. On the last night of their stay in Mexico they went for another one of their walks and sat in the sand. Nyssa leaned back against Vince and listened to his heart beat against her while she reflected on the ride the last 6 months had been. It had been wild. But she found she wouldn't have had it any other way.  
  
Vince was reflecting on a lot of things too. And the main thing was, he loved the girl in his arms, but he'd never told her that. He knew it was a mistake he had to rectify and he couldn't think of a better time or place.  
  
"Nyssa?"  
  
"Um baby." She asked him without moving.  
  
"I need to tell you something."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I love you." He waited for her reaction. He had no idea what it would be.  
  
"I love you too." She answered simply and turned her face up to receive the kiss she expected following that statement. He didn't disappoint her. When they got back to their room some time later Nyssa looked around.  
  
"I can't believe we have to go home tomorrow. This has been such a blast." Nyssa sighed wistfully.  
  
"We can come back some other time you know." Vince laughed at the look on her face. She clearly enjoyed the days of doing nothing.  
  
"I know, but it'll never be this trip again." The trip where you told me you loved me out loud for the first time ever, she thought.  
  
"I have one more thing for you." Vince told her and handed her a piece of paper. "I know it's kinda corny but I heard this song and it make me think of you so I went and got the lyrics so you can see them. They say this kinda stuff better'n I do. I just want you to know you're my music." Vince looked more then a little uncomfortable and embarrassed. Nyssa began to read.  
  
My Muzik  
  
She's thick, she's bad, so clean, she's fine She loves, she hates, she laughs, she cries She hurts, she lies, she's Bonnie, I'm Clyde She's ghetto, she's real, she sings, she rhymes  
  
She comes, she goes, she lives, she dies She sexy and bomb, she blows my mind She stays in line, she's smart, she's funny She's crafty and cunning, in the game she's running Her lips, her back, her waist, her thighs Her face, her skin, her hair, her eyes Her voice, her shape, her hips, her mind Her love, her smile, her touch, her time  
  
My baby! Walk like six strings talk like she's my everything My baby! Loves me, hates me, leaves me, runs right back, that sexy... Baby! All I know, she shed's all my confusion, so... My baby! Will not run from anything, I swear, this goes  
  
"Vince this is easily the sweetest thing anyone ever gave me." She through herself into his arms. He grabbed her like he was never going to let go. And of course, he had no plans on letting her go any time soon.  
  
~Fin~ 


	46. to clear some things up

She's Bonnie, I'm Clyde Epilogue.  
  
Just to clear some things up.  
  
Foxy-Latina-Letty and Dom are fine as they ever are. The story wasn't really about them so I guess I neglected them at the end of the story. But they're still together in Adrenaline which follows after this story. So I guess Adrenaline sort of is the sequel but right now it's about Leon and Kat more then any of the other couples. I didn't pick an exact time frame but Adrenaline comes something in the area of 6 months or so after She's Bonnie, I'm Clyde. I think I need to write a Letty and Dom story.I never have written one set just about them. Well, a very short one. Might turn My Immoral into a full length story now that I have more time to write. Watch for that. ;)  
  
BridgetLyn. Nyssa isn't in adrenaline yet. You'll find out why soon. It's very close on the horizon. Poor Coyote got the very bad end of the stick in the situation too.You'll have to wait and see.  
  
PenningFantasy. It was very unvince like, but that's why he gave her the song lyrics instead of trying to come up with the words for how he felt himself.  
  
Kat wasn't the blonde girl. Kat could beat Letty and Nyssa. Kat is a racer and that's all she is. She's a natural at it. And threatening her with telling Dom wouldn't make her scared, it would make her laugh. She's more then a little fearless in most things. But can she beat Dom is the question of the hour and someday we shall find out.  
  
So just to clarify Adrenaline is a sequal to this story in a lot of ways.  
  
Go read Returning by Ubiquitous-Angel too. It's good~ I swear. I can't get enough of it. Even if she did do something evil. And my friends call me Evil one. Go read it. 


End file.
